ABSTRACT
Scientific progress is providing fundamental new understandings about the immune system and closely related host defense mechanisms that are antigenically nonspecific. Any dysfunction of the immune system caused by malnutrition is, in fact, an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, one that is identified by the acronym Nutritionally Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (NAIDS). The current global incidence of NAIDS can be estimated to be in the hundreds of millions, based on the billion or more persons believed to suffer from deficiencies of protein, energy, and/or essential single nutrients. More detailed knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of immune responsiveness will characterize the future. Immunopathogenesis, immunotoxicology, and neuroimmunology will flourish as new subdivisions of immunology, along with immunonutrition. A major obstacle to clinical progress in patients with immunonutritional dysfunctions is the relative scarcity of clinically useful diagnostic methods to measure immune functions as well as trace nutrients in a manner that provides the desirable levels of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, cost, and convenience.
