RESEARCHERS in Zimbabwe and the United States have uncovered new evidence showing that Western-style diets can worsen immune dysfunction among people living with HIV.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, explored the impact of Western versus agrarian diet consumption on gut microbiome composition and immune dysfunction in people living with HIV in Zimbabwe.
The researchers suggested that people living with HIV, who consume more Western-style diets, may face a higher risk of chronic inflammation than those eating traditional diets.
They said the findings highlighted the importance of nutrition in HIV treatment and recovery, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where about 70% of the global HIV burden is centred.
The study found that participants in rural Zimbabwe generally consumed fewer Western-style foods.
“Individuals residing in therural areas of Zimbabwe less frequently consumed high-fat, low-fibre Western-type food items and had lower consumption of diverse food items overall, except for sadza, a subsistence staple processed from home-grown grains,” the study noted.
The study also pointed out that consumption of Western diets was also associated with increased markers of immune exhaustion.
“Consumption of a more Western-type diet correlated with lower CD4+ T cell percentage in untreated and treated people living with HIV (PLWH) and increased T cell exhaustion in PLWH on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART),” the study said..
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“Our finding that individuals in the urban area were eating a more Western diet (PC2: WA FF/Drinks vs Fruit/Veg/Gr), is consistent with studies showing a shift towards a more Western diet with urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
The researchers warned that Western-style diets were linked to poorer immune outcomes in PLWH.
“We observed that consumption of a more Western diet (PC2: WA FF/Drinks vs Fruit/Veg/Gr) was associated with lower CD4+ T cell percent in ART naïve individuals,” the study found.
It added: “In the ART experienced cohort, PC2: WA FF/Drinks vs Fruit/Veg/Gr correlated positively with CD8+PD1+ T cells, showing a relationship between Western diet consumption and immune exhaustion in treated infection.”
The researchers said the findings added to growing evidence that diet should be considered an important component of HIV management strategies.
“Taken together, this work supports that consumption of more high-fat/low-fibre type food items has the potential to exacerbate HIV pathogenesis in a sub-Saharan setting where HIV burden is high and reinforces the importance of nutritional support for promoting immunologic response to ART in PLWH in Sub-Saharan Africa,” the study read.
