The epidemics of chronic inflammatory disorders of the upper and lower airways, as well as other allergic disorders have substantial impact on the quality of life and life expectancy. Due to environmental and lifestyle changes, there is an increasing frequency of allergies and respiratory viral and bacterial infections. Simultaneously, we are witnessing obesity and metabolic syndrome epidemics throughout the developed world. To date, there is no clear understanding of the connection between respiratory diseases, allergies and metabolic disorders. Recent findings suggest that functions of the immune system might be significantly influenced by systemic metabolic dysregulations coupled with environmental exposures. Metabolomic analysis in immune cells is still restricted by several methodological difficulties. Limitation in the number of cells, separation between metabolites present in the culture media/ inside the cell or secreted by the cell, quantification and normalization of metabolomic data are the main point of consideration. For metabolomic analysis sample selection and manipulation is an essential issue. When samples come from a clinical study, patients’ stratification and selection of the appropriate model (ideally extreme phenotypes, placebo vs treatment) is also extremely important. The aim of our TF is to 1) review the current data on the link between metabolic reprogramming of the innate and adaptive immune cells; 2) to analyse currently available methods to examine immune metabolism; 3) to describe the challenges and propose the working protocols, especially to develop the immunometabolism field in bigger clinical trials with biologicals and AIT.

Chair: Milena Sokolowska
Secretary: Maria Escribese