Early life: gut microbiota and immune development in infancy.

The immune system of infants is actively downregulated during pregnancy and therefore the first months of life represent a period of heightened susceptibility to infection. After birth, there is an age-dependent maturation of the immune system. Exposure to environmental microbial components is suggested to play an important role in the maturation process.

Older adults and patients in need of nutritional support: review of current treatment options and factors influencing nutritional intake.

Background & Aims: Many older adults and patients do not achieve sufficient nutritional intake to support their minimal needs and are at risk of, or are suffering from, (protein-energy) malnutrition. Better understanding of current treatment options and factors determining nutritional intake, may help design new strategies to solve this multifactorial problem.

Methods: Medline, Science Citation Index, ScienceDirect and Google databases (until December 2008) were searched with the keywords malnutrition, elderly, older adults, food intake, energy density, variety, taste, satiety, and appetite.