Apr. 29, 2026
How a Single Meal Fuels Potent T Cells
The findings of a new Pitt study could have profound implications for developing diet-based strategies to optimally fuel the immune system before major challenges like cancer immunotherapy or vaccination.
TOPICS: Cancer & Immunotherapy | Education | Research | School of Medicine | Schools
By Asher Jones
Greg Delgoffe started with a simple question: How does a meal influence the immune system?
“We are starting to learn that different types of diets—such as Western-style, Mediterranean, ketogenic or intermittent fasting—affect the immune system,” said Delgoffe, a professor of immunology at the Pitt School of Medicine and researcher at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. “But most research has looked at the effects of diet over weeks or months. No one had explored whether the immune system responds immediately to a meal.”
To answer this question, Delgoffe, postdoc Alok Kumar and their team drew blood from healthy human volunteers before breakfast and again six hours later, after the volunteers had eaten whatever they wanted.
“Our research indicates that the immune system is exquisitely sensitive to immediate dietary changes.”
Alok Kumar
“To be honest, I didn’t think we were going to find anything,” said Delgoffe. “But it was remarkable: T cells taken after a meal had dramatically better metabolic and functional activity than those from the same individuals in the fasted state. A meal made all the difference.”
The findings, published today in Nature, could have profound implications for developing diet-based strategies to optimally fuel the immune system before major challenges like cancer immunotherapy or vaccination.