Publisher's Synopsis
In Vitamin A and the Immune Function, individuals representing a spectrum of disciplines elucidate the relationship between vitamin A and immune function. Through this range of perspectives, the contributors, speakers at the Symposium on the Relationship Between Vitamin A and Immune Function, offer a useful, corrective lens for a subject often viewed simplistically within a single area of study in which few books cover the topic exclusively.
The goal of the symposium and this volume is to review what is known about the the relationship between a specific micronutrient and a complex physiologic process from many experts'points of view and to promote discussion and speculation on basic mechanisms accounting for the interaction. Vitamin A and the Immune Function is an effort to share with many readers the collective thoughts of those in attendance and to provoke further thought on this important topic.
The speakers, in this volume as authors, discuss what is known about the vitamin A/immune response interaction followed by discussions which probe at what is still unknown. The authors are experts from several disciplines, including biochemistry, nutrition, epidemiology, pediatrics, infectious diseases, and public health. Participants, who were encouraged to join in the discussion periods to raise questions and contribute ideas, broadened the range of disciplines represented to include international health, nutrition, and development. This book captures the symposium's energy and will stimulate researchers and students to consider the unanswered questions.
The unique aspect of this book is the interdisciplinary approach to the relationship between vitamin A and immune function. Parochial perspectives on this topic have often left the logical mind with gnawing questions kindled by findings in other fields of research. The inquisitive researcher may be most incited by the section in this book presented by the experts from outside their primary field of interest. Vitamin A and the Immune Function may raise more questions for many readers than it answers but that is precisely its primary benefit.
