On March 16, 2023, the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa held the international conference entitled "GUT POWER", with scientific coordination of Teresa Nazareth and Paula Ravasco. It was attended by prized international speakers

Paula Ravasco, MD, RD, MSc, PhD

Teresa Santos, PsychD, PhD

Diogo Alpuim Costa, MD

and keynote speker Emeran Mayer, MD, PhD, Director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, and co-director of CURE: Center for Digestive Disease Research.

In this session devoted to the cutting-edge topic Gut-Brain-Immune Axis, we highlight:

Immunonutrition as an adjuvant intervention in the modulation of the inflammatory response and improvement of systemic immunity in cancer patients under active anti-neoplastic therapy. The interaction is complex, on which evidence shows that the immune status per se dictates the need for the degree of immune response and determines the nutritional, metabolic and physical activity needs. On the other hand, the patient's immune response modulates and is modulated by the competence of their immune status and by nutritional and lifestyle intervention.

The role of the Microbiota, influenced by multiple healthy lifestyles (diet, exercise, emotional stability and dysbiosis associated with various diseases, including cancer and possible clinical validation of cancerous microbiota signatures.  

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy integrated in the multimodal intervention of gastrointestinal disease, has been shown to be effective in several diagnoses, and literature shows that there are bidirectional effects of the activity of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and psychological disorders.

In the complex brain-gut-immunity relationship, communication between the gut microbiome and the immune system in the gut is an ancient conserved evolutionary system that modulates the function of each organ, including brain structure and function. It is known that this communication that connects the mind, the gut, food and the environment works as a network of high-performance connections. Of note that the main components of plant-based diets act across key species of the gut microbiome to reduce systemic immune activation and the prevalence of chronic non-infectious diseases.