📄Call for Papers Functional Foods: Clinical Translation, Delivery Systems, Gut-Brain Axis, and AI-Driven Personalized Nutrition We welcome high-quality work in the following areas: • Clinical translation and evidence-based research on functional foods • Bioactive delivery systems and their health outcomes • Functional foods targeting the gut-brain axis and metabolic pathways • AI-driven personalized functional nutrition Priority is given to high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and population-based and cohort studies, as well as interdisciplinary original research that integrates food technology with clinical outcomes. Submission deadline: March 31, 2027 Submit your manuscript:
mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/i… The Innovation Nutrition is an international open-access journal that bridges basic science, clinical translation, population research, and engineering innovation in human and clinical nutrition. We offer rigorous peer review with a fast turnaround (average ~23 days to first decision) and immediate open access. Journal website: the-innovation.org/the-innov… Please share with colleagues who may be interested. #FunctionalFoods #ClinicalNutrition #PrecisionNutrition #GutMicrobiome #TheInnovationNutrition

Dysregulated thymus-ovary axis promotes virtual memory T cell polarization to aggravate PMOS pathology nature.com/articles/s41423-0…

Why Women Need Testosterone—and Why One Test Isn't the Whole Story youtu.be/uT8O33WpzLI?si=drfW… via @YouTube

The Thymus and PCOS: An Unexpected Immune Connection | Research Friday #016 youtu.be/PGO0unwMYWI?si=qufP… via @YouTube

Can we really slow chronic inflammation as we age? Probably—but not by trying to eliminate inflammation altogether. In Research Friday #015, I look at what the evidence says about: • exercise, sleep, stress, and metabolic health • reverse causation in lifestyle research • sex differences in immune aging • diet patterns vs “anti-inflammatory” miracle foods • why one inflammatory marker cannot tell you your “immune age” One important point: Biological importance is not the same as clinical usefulness—and lowering one marker does not prove that the immune system became younger. Healthy aging is not about switching immunity off. It is about keeping immune protection effective while limiting chronic damage. 🎥 Can We Slow Chronic Inflammation? Research Friday #015 #Inflammaging #Immunology #HealthyAging #ImmuneAging #Longevity #Inflammation

Can a T cell “remember” something it never encountered? Most memory T cells form after exposure to an antigen. But some CD8 T cells can develop a memory-like state without that usual infection history. These are called virtual memory T cells. They are especially interesting in aging. As we get older, naive T cells decline and memory-like populations become more prominent. But virtual memory T cells are not simply “good” or “bad.” They can respond rapidly and may help with early defense. At the same time, some memory-like states may become more inflammatory or function differently with age. Hormones may also matter. Androgens can influence the thymus, T-cell development, metabolism, and the immune environment. But the relationship is not simple. Lower androgens during aging do not automatically mean more virtual memory T cells. And PMOS, formerly called PCOS, provides a very different hormonal setting. In our recent study, we found more virtual-memory-like CD8 T cells in some women with PMOS, particularly in those with higher DHEAS. In experimental models, these cells expanded, accumulated in reproductive tissues, and produced inflammatory signals including CCL5. Removing CD8 T cells reduced PCOS-like disease features in mice. Blocking JAK signaling also reduced virtual-memory differentiation and improved pathology. But this is mechanistic evidence — not a clinical treatment recommendation. Virtual memory T cells are not yet a diagnostic test for immune aging. And JAK inhibitors are not established treatments for PMOS. What we have is something more interesting: a new biological pathway connecting endocrine signals, T-cell states, and reproductive inflammation. 🎥 HelenHealth Lab EP04 | The T Cells That Look Old Before You Do #VirtualMemoryTCells #ImmuneAging #PMOS #PCOS #CD8TCells #Immunology #Androgens

Welcome to follow The Innovation Nutrition on ResearchGate! researchgate.net/journal/The…

When does immune protection become tissue damage? A fast immune response can be useful. But if activation lasts too long, happens in the wrong place, or becomes disconnected from the original threat, the same system can contribute to inflammation. In Research Friday #014, I look at: bystander activation CD8 T cells NKG2D tissue migration JAK–STAT signaling and why blood does not always reflect what is happening inside an organ The key idea: Immune memory is not the problem. Loss of control is. 🎥 New Research Friday episode #Immunology #ImmuneMemory #ChronicInflammation #TCells #JAKSTAT

As we age, our hormones change.​ Our immune system changes too.​ But are these two processes actually connected?​ In HelenHealth EP03, I look at the possible links between androgens and immune aging.​ Testosterone is only part of the story.​ DHEA, DHEAS, androstenedione, testosterone, and 11-oxygenated androgens can follow different age-related patterns — and some may remain relatively stable.​ At the same time, immune aging involves thymic involution, fewer new T cells, shifts in T-cell populations, and more chronic low-level inflammation.​ Could androgen signaling connect these systems?​ Possibly.​ But most human studies still give us snapshots rather than clear evidence of cause and effect.​ The real question is not whether one hormone “controls” aging.​ It is how endocrine, immune, and metabolic systems change together over time.​ 🎥 EP03 | Androgens and Immune Aging​ #ImmuneAging #Androgens #Immunology #Aging #Endocrinology

Virtual memory T cells: protective — or pathogenic? These unusual CD8 T cells can respond rapidly and may help with early immune defense. But related cell states may also contribute to inflammation and tissue injury. And aging makes the story even more complicated. In Research Friday #013, we look at what virtual memory T cells may tell us about: • immune aging • infection defense • inflammation • tissue damage • disease mechanisms 🎥 New episode on HelenHealth. #Immunology #ImmuneAging #TCells #Aging #Inflammation

Women were given half a flu-vaccine dose.​ They still produced antibody responses comparable to men receiving the full dose.​ Why?​ Hormones are part of the answer—but not all of it.​ The X chromosome matters too.​ One example: TLR7, a viral-sensing gene that can escape X-chromosome inactivation in some immune cells, potentially increasing interferon responses.​ So asking whether men or women have the “better” immune system misses the point.​ The real biology is about different immune settings—and how they change with age.​ 🎥 Research Friday EP02 | Why Men and Women Respond Differently to Infection​ #Immunology #Vaccines #TLR7 #WomensHealth #ResearchFriday