Immune system

The group operates within the framework of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) paradigm, investigating how environmental disturbances (particularly nutritional ones) occurring in utero or during the perinatal period program the onset of chronic non-communicable diseases in adulthood.

Immune System Programming — Thymus and T Lymphocytes

Jean-Baptiste Armengaud, paediatric hospital doctor and member of the DOHaD Research Group, has conducted animal research on the effects of early malnutrition on the developing immune system, particularly the thymus.

In clinical research, he focuses on the mechanisms linking early growth restriction of nutritional origin, low-grade chronic inflammation, oxidative stress and the onset of premature immunosenescence, which predisposes individuals to the development of non-communicable diseases later in life.

Translational Approach

The group's approach is resolutely translational, combining animal models (rats) and clinical studies on the biochemical and molecular mechanisms related to the long-term consequences of perinatal nutritional disorders. The aim is to prevent chronic non-communicable diseases during the critical periods of an individual's early development.