@article{mbs:/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.mim2019.po0003, author = "Heras, Vanessa and Clooney, Adam G. and Ryan, Feargal J. and Cabrera-Rubio, Raul and Casey, Pat G. and Hueston, Cara M. and Pinheiro, Jorge and Rudkin, Justine K. and Melgar, Silvia and Cotter, Paul and Hill, Colin and Gahan, Cormac", title = "Short-term consumption of a high-fat diet increases host susceptibility to Listeria monocytogenes infection", journal= "Access Microbiology", year = "2020", volume = "2", number = "1", pages = "", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.mim2019.po0003", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.mim2019.po0003", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "2516-8290", type = "Journal Article", eid = "23", abstract = "A Westernized-diet comprising a high caloric intake from animal fats is known to influence the development of pathological inflammatory conditions. However, there has been relatively little focus upon the implications of such diets for the progression of infectious disease. Here we investigated the influence of a high-fat (HF) diet upon parameters that influence Listeria monocytogenes infection in mice. We determined that short-term administration of a HF diet increases the number of goblet cells, a known binding site for the pathogen in the gut, and also induces profound changes to the microbiota and promotes a pro-inflammatory gene expression profile in the host. Host physiological changes were concordant with significantly increased susceptibility to oral L. monocytogenes infection in mice fed a HF diet relative to low-fat (LF) or chow-fed animals. Prior to Listeria infection short-term consumption of HF diet elevated faecal levels of Firmicutes. During active infection with L. monocytogenes microbiota changes were further exacerbated but host inflammatory responses were significantly down-regulated relative to Listeria-infected LF or chow-fed groups, suggestive of a profound tampering of the host response influenced by infection in the context of a HF diet. Overall the results indicate that short-term consumption of a Westernized-diet has the capacity to significantly alter host susceptibility to L. monocytogenes infection concomitant with changes to the host physiological landscape. The findings suggest that diet should be a consideration when developing models that reflect human infectious disease.", }