Putting mice on a keto diet

Abstract

Infectious Disease Our immune responses to infections are influenced by extrinsic factors, including weather, social interactions, and diet. Goldberg et al. found that feeding mice a high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet confers protection in the context of lethal influenza infection. By characterizing the immune response in the lungs, the authors identified that a ketogenic diet promoted the expansion of γδ T cells in the lung. Experiments with mice lacking γδ T cells confirmed the functional importance of these cells in conferring protection. The γδ T cells appear to improve barrier function in the lungs by modifying differentiation and function of the airway epithelial cells. Sci. Immunol. 4 , eaav2026 (2019).