Nutrigenomics: The Impact of Biomics Technology on Nutrition Research

Advances in Nutrigenomics and Applications in Public Health: A Recent Update

Nutrition research is achieving new paradigms through recent advances in the field of Nutrigenomics. The application of genomic principles for the identification of relationships between certain specific nutrients with genetic factors is termed “Nutrigenomics”. This knowledge is essential to understanding the risk factors behind diet-related chronic degenerative diseases, which further helps resolve the underlying mechanism of genetic predisposition. Advances in Sciences associated with the study of genes have assisted in developing a deep insight into genetic variants, and gene expression patterns to work out therapeutic responses toward chronic degenerative diseases associated with Public Health. To appraise recent advances in Nutrigenomics with its application in Public health several databases including Pub Med, Google Scholar, Medline etc were investigated in detail. A total of 72 relevant peer-reviewed journal articles were included in this review paper. Nutrigenomics has an important role in comprehending how homeostatic control is maintained and the way metabolic pathways are influenced by nutrient intake. The knowledge of Nutrigenomics helps in working out personalized nutrition strategies for both prevention and management of the diseased situation. The present review article aims to investigate and present a piece of in-depth information about the latest Advances in Nutrigenomics and its application in public health.

Informatics for Nutritional Genetics and Genomics

While traditional nutrition science is focusing on nourishing population, modern nutrition is aiming at benefiting individual people. The goal of modern nutritional research is to promote health, prevent diseases, and improve performance. With the development of modern technologies like bioinformatics, metabolomics, and molecular genetics, this goal is becoming more attainable. In this chapter, we will discuss the new concepts and technologies especially in informatics and molecular genetics and genomics, and how they have been implemented to change the nutrition science and lead to the emergence of new branches like nutrigenomics, nutrigenetics, and nutritional metabolomics.

Nutrigenomics, the Microbiome, and Gene-Environment Interactions: New Directions in Cardiovascular Disease Research, Prevention, and Treatment: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

Cardiometabolic diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide and are strongly linked to both genetic and nutritional factors. The field of nutrigenomics encompasses multiple approaches aimed at understanding the effects of diet on health or disease development, including nutrigenetic studies investigating the relationship between genetic variants and diet in modulating cardiometabolic risk, as well as the effects of dietary components on multiple "omic" measures, including transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, lipidomics, epigenetic modifications, and the microbiome. Here, we describe the current state of the field of nutrigenomics with respect to cardiometabolic disease research and outline a direction for the integration of multiple omics techniques in future nutrigenomic studies aimed at understanding mechanisms and developing new therapeutic options for cardiometabolic disease treatment and prevention.

A metabonomic investigation on the biochemical perturbation in post-stroke patients with depressive disorder (PSD)

A metabonomics study based on GC/MS and multivariate statistical analysis was performed involving 28 post stroke depressed (PSD) patients, 27 post-stroke non-depressed (PSND) patients and 33 healthy subjects to investigate the biochemical perturbation in their plasma samples. The outcome of this study showed that there was distinctive metabolic profile for PSD patients. Seven sentinel metabolites showed marked perturbations in PSD patients' blood. The introduction of metabonomics approach may provide a novel metabonomic insight about PSD and the sentinel metabolites for classifying PSD.

Systems biology approaches to study the molecular effects of caloric restriction and polyphenols on aging processes

Worldwide population is aging, and a large part of the growing burden associated with age-related conditions can be prevented or delayed by promoting healthy lifestyle and normalizing metabolic risk factors. However, a better understanding of the pleiotropic effects of available nutritional interventions and their influence on the multiple processes affected by aging is needed to select and implement the most promising actions. New methods of analysis are required to tackle the complexity of the interplay between nutritional interventions and aging, and to make sense of a growing amount of -omics data being produced for this purpose. In this paper, we review how various systems biology-inspired methods of analysis can be applied to the study of the molecular basis of nutritional interventions promoting healthy aging, notably caloric restriction and polyphenol supplementation. We specifically focus on the role that different versions of network analysis, molecular signature identification and multi-omics data integration are playing in elucidating the complex mechanisms underlying nutrition, and provide some examples on how to extend the application of these methods using available microarray data.

White adipose tissue reference network: a knowledge resource for exploring health-relevant relations

Optimal health is maintained by interaction of multiple intrinsic and environmental factors at different levels of complexity—from molecular, to physiological, to social. Understanding and quantification of these interactions will aid design of successful health interventions. We introduce the reference network concept as a platform for multi-level exploration of biological relations relevant for metabolic health, by integration and mining of biological interactions derived from public resources and context-specific experimental data. A White Adipose Tissue Health Reference Network (WATRefNet) was constructed as a resource for discovery and prioritization of mechanism-based biomarkers for white adipose tissue (WAT) health status and the effect of food and drug compounds on WAT health status. The WATRefNet (6,797 nodes and 32,171 edges) is based on (1) experimental data obtained from 10 studies addressing different adiposity states, (2) seven public knowledge bases of molecular interactions, (3) expert’s definitions of five physiologically relevant processes key to WAT health, namely WAT expandability, Oxidative capacity, Metabolic state, Oxidative stress and Tissue inflammation, and (4) a collection of relevant biomarkers of these processes identified by BIOCLAIMS (http://bioclaims.uib.es). The WATRefNet comprehends multiple layers of biological complexity as it contains various types of nodes and edges that represent different biological levels and interactions. We have validated the reference network by showing overrepresentation with anti-obesity drug targets, pathology-associated genes and differentially expressed genes from an external disease model dataset. The resulting network has been used to extract subnetworks specific to the above-mentioned expert-defined physiological processes. Each of these process-specific signatures represents a mechanistically supported composite biomarker for assessing and quantifying the effect of interventions on a physiological aspect that determines WAT health status. Following this principle, five anti-diabetic drug interventions and one diet intervention were scored for the match of their expression signature to the five biomarker signatures derived from the WATRefNet. This confirmed previous observations of successful intervention by dietary lifestyle and revealed WAT-specific effects of drug interventions. The WATRefNet represents a sustainable knowledge resource for extraction of relevant relationships such as mechanisms of action, nutrient intervention targets and biomarkers and for assessment of health effects for support of health claims made on food products.

Metabolomics of ginger essential oil against alcoholic fatty liver in mice

Fatty liver is significantly associated with hepatic cirrhosis and liver cancer. Excessive alcohol consumption causes alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD). Ginger has been reported to exhibit antioxidant potential and hepatoprotective activity. In the present study, a mouse model for AFLD was developed by employing male C57BL/6 mice that were fed an alcohol-containing liquid diet (Lieber-DeCarli diet) ad libitum. In the treatment groups, ginger essential oil (GEO) and citral were orally administered every day for 4 weeks. Serum biochemical analysis, antioxidant enzyme activity analysis, and histopathological evaluation revealed that GEO and citral exhibited hepatoprotective activity against AFLD. Metabolites in serum samples were profiled by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-QTOF-MS). Metabolomic data indicated the amounts of metabolites such as d-glucurono-6,3-lactone, glycerol-3-phosphate, pyruvic acid, lithocholic acid, 2-pyrocatechuic acid, and prostaglandin E1 were increased after alcohol administration, but the levels were recovered in treatment groups. The analysis indicated that ginger possesses hepatoprotective properties against AFLD. Furthermore, these metabolites can serve as early noninvasive candidate biomarkers in the clinical application of AFLD for health management.

Looking back into the future: 30 years of metabolomics at TNO

Metabolites have played an essential role in our understanding of life, health, and disease for thousands of years. This domain became much more important after the concept of metabolism was discovered. In the 1950s, mass spectrometry was coupled to chromatography and made the technique more application-oriented and allowed the development of new profiling technologies. Since 1980, TNO has performed system-based metabolic profiling of body fluids, and combined with pattern recognition has led to many discoveries and contributed to the field known as metabolomics and systems biology. This review describes the development of related concepts and applications at TNO in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, nutritional, and microbiological fields, and provides an outlook for the future.

The Applications of Omics Technologies and the Challenges of Ethics in Nutritional Sciences

During the past two decades, there have been numerous developments in the genetic and genomic technologies enabling us to understand complex biological systems in an integrative manner through holistic approaches in research. Since the sequencing of the human genome, efforts are made to identify the number of the genes and their functions. The tools for determining the functionality of the genes are just beginning to appear. Initially the methodologies to identify functionality of the genes were largely based on comparative studies between model organisms. The very high number of genes with unknown functions demanded the need to develop new methods and technologies that may be helpful in assigning functions to the identified genes. Advancements in computing techniques and software opened the door for new technologies to be able to take an applied approach by studying biomolecules needed for proper functioning of the cell and take a holistic approach in biomedical research. Besides genomics, several other technologies are developed in the last decade that take an ‘omics’ approach, i.e., an integrated approach in the study of cell function. It is hoped that the applied integrative omics approaches may be helpful in establishing cause and effect relationships between genotype and phenotype. These ‘omics’ approaches include the integration of genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and other omic technologies to do the non-targeted studies of biomolecules involved in the proper functioning of the cells and their responses to environmental changes. The applications of these technologies have been also utilized in the field of nutrition for studies on how nutrients and other metabolites effect the proper functioning of the cell. With these emerging techniques to understand the molecular functioning of the body, it is envisaged that they might be helpful to give personalized medical care and dietary advice to people based on their individual genotypes in the future. Whilst nutritional genomics is a rapidly growing field in the nutritional sciences focusing on the diet-gene relationships, there is an increasing understanding that other technologies will also be crucial in understanding the whole biological processes involved in metabolism of food. In this chapter I wish to outline the use of contemporary technologies that are involved in establishing the intricate linkages between diet and the genes, and the ethical challenges they raise in their applications.

Nutrigenomics: a case for the common soil between cardiovascular disease and cancer

The border between health and disease is often set by a complex equilibrium between two elements, genetics on one hand, lifestyle on the other, To know it better, means to give new weapons, often crucial, in the hands of the doctors and their patients. It also means to adjust therapies, to find out which drug is good for a patient and which prevention strategy will work better for him/her. Nutrigenomics is an approach to individualize or personalize food and nutrition, and ultimately health, by tailoring the food to the individual genotype. In this review, we present the interaction between certain genetic polymorphisms and diet and increased cardiovascular or cancer risk. It is, indeed, now clear that a large number of bioactive food components may provide risk or protection at several stages of both atherosclerosis and cancer formation processes. We are giving here few examples of gene-food interactions relevant for both the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, since a common soil could exist in the genesis of cardiovascular disease and of some types of cancer (mainly gastrointestinal tract and hormone-dependent).

Epigenetic manifestation of metabolic syndrome and dietary management

SIGNIFICANCE

Metabolic syndrome constitutes a group of disorders such as insulin resistance, hypertension, and hypertriglyceridemia, predisposing an individual to risk factors such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia. A majority of these diseases are influenced by the environmental factors, nutrient uptake, and genetic profile of an individual that together dysregulate gene function. These genetic and nongenetic factors are reported to introduce epigenetic cues that modulate the gene function which is inherited by the offspring.

RECENT ADVANCES

Considering the epigenetic modulation of the metabolic disorders, nutrigenomics has been distinctly categorized as a branch that deals with modulatory effect of nutrients on metabolic disorders and disease progression by supplementing the individuals with key nutrient-enriched diets which are derived from plant and animal sources.

CRITICAL ISSUES

Nutritional components of the diet regulate the metabolic health of an individual either by controlling the expression of some key genes related to metabolic pathways or by modulating the epigenetic events on such genes. The present article discusses various metabolic disorders in detail and the effect of nutrients on the specific genes causing those disorders. We also highlight the molecular mechanisms of some metabolic disorders through epigenetic modifications and possible therapeutic interventions.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

With the advent of high-throughput technologies and epigenetic modulation of the metabolic disorders, an altered epigenetic code that is programmed due to improper nutrients can be reverted back by supplementing the diet with various plant-derived compounds. The implication of small molecular drugs is also of utmost significance for challenging the metabolic disorders.

Opportunities and challenges for nutritional proteomics in cancer prevention

Knowledge gaps persist about the efficacy of cancer prevention strategies based on dietary food components. Adaptations to nutrient supply are executed through tuning of multiple protein networks that include transcription factors, histones, modifying enzymes, translation factors, membrane and nuclear receptors, and secreted proteins. However, the simultaneous quantitative and qualitative measurement of all proteins that regulate cancer processes is not practical using traditional protein methodologies. Proteomics offers an attractive opportunity to fill this knowledge gap and unravel the effects of dietary components on protein networks that impinge on cancer. The articles presented in this supplement are from talks proffered in the "Nutrition Proteomics and Cancer Prevention" session at the American Institute for Cancer Research Annual Research Conference on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer held in Washington, DC on October 21 and 22, 2010. Recent advances in MS technologies suggest that studies in nutrition and cancer prevention may benefit from the adoption of proteomic tools to elucidate the impact on biological processes that govern the transition from normal to malignant phenotype; to identify protein changes that determine both positive and negative responses to food components; to assess how protein networks mediate dose-, time-, and tissue-dependent responses to food components; and, finally, for predicting responders and nonresponders. However, both the limited accessibility to proteomic technologies and research funding appear to be hampering the routine adoption of proteomic tools in nutrition and cancer prevention research.

Glucose: an energy currency and structural precursor in articular cartilage and bone with emerging roles as an extracellular signaling molecule and metabolic regulator

In the skeletal system glucose serves as an essential source of energy for the development, growth, and maintenance of bone and articular cartilage. It is particularly needed for skeletal morphogenesis during embryonic growth and fetal development. Glucose is vital for osteogenesis and chondrogenesis, and is used as a precursor for the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans, glycoproteins, and glycolipids. Glucose sensors are present in tissues and organs that carry out bulk glucose fluxes (i.e., intestine, kidney, and liver). The beta cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans respond to changes in blood glucose concentration by varying the rate of insulin synthesis and secretion. Neuronal cells in the hypothalamus are also capable of sensing extracellular glucose. Glucosensing neurons use glucose as a signaling molecule to alter their action potential frequency in response to variations in ambient glucose levels. Skeletal muscle and adipose tissue can respond to changes in circulating glucose but much less is known about glucosensing in bone and cartilage. Recent research suggests that bone cells can influence (and be influenced by) systemic glucose metabolism. This focused review article discusses what we know about glucose transport and metabolism in bone and cartilage and highlights recent studies that have linked glucose metabolism, insulin signaling, and osteocalcin activity in bone. These new findings in bone cells raise important questions about nutrient sensing, uptake, storage and processing mechanisms and how they might contribute to overall energy homeostasis in health and disease. The role of glucose in modulating anabolic and catabolic gene expression in normal and osteoarthritic chondrocytes is also discussed. In summary, cartilage and bone cells are sensitive to extracellular glucose and adjust their gene expression and metabolism in response to varying extracellular glucose concentrations.

The potential role of nutritional genomics tools in validating high health foods for cancer control: broccoli as example

Nutritional genomics reflects gene/nutrient interactions, utilising high-throughput genomic tools in nutrition research. The field also considers the contribution of individual genotypes to wellness and the risk of chronic disease (nutrigenetics), and how such genetic predisposition may be modified by appropriate diets. For example, high consumption of brassicaceous vegetables, including broccoli, has regularly associated with low cancer risk. Bioactive chemicals in broccoli include glucosinolates, plant pigments including kaempferol, quercetin, lutein and carotenoids, various vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Cancer prevention is hypothesised to act through various mechanisms including modulation of xenobiotic metabolising enzymes, NF-E2 p45-related factor-2 (Nrf2)-mediated stress-response mechanisms, and protection against genomic instability. Broccoli and broccoli extracts also regulate the progression of cancer through anti-inflammatory effects, effects on signal transduction, epigenetic effects and modulation of the colonic microflora. Human intervention studies with broccoli and related foods, using standard biomarker methodologies, reveal part of a complex picture. Nutrigenomic approaches, especially transcriptomics, enable simultaneous study of various signalling pathways and networks. Phenotypic, genetic and/or metabolic stratification may identify individuals most likely to respond positively to foods or diets. Jointly, these technologies can provide proof of human efficacy, and may be essential to ensure effective market transfer and uptake of broccoli and related foods.

Intestinal gene expression in pigs: effects of reduced feed intake during weaning and potential impact of dietary components

The weaning transition is characterised by morphological, histological and microbial changes, often leading to weaning-associated disorders. These intestinal changes can partly be ascribed to the lack of luminal nutrition arising from the reduced feed intake common in pigs after weaning. It is increasingly becoming clear that changes in the supply with enteral nutrients may have major impacts on intestinal gene expression. Furthermore, the major dietary constituents, i.e. carbohydrates, fatty acids and amino acids, participate in the regulation of intestinal gene expression. However, nutrients may also escape digestion by mammalian enzymes in the upper gastrointestinal tract. These nutrients can be used by the microflora, resulting in the production of bacterial metabolites, for example, SCFA, which may affect intestinal gene expression indirectly. The present review provides an insight on possible effects of reduced feed intake on intestinal gene expression, as it may occur post-weaning. Detailed knowledge on effects of reduced feed intake on intestinal gene expression may help to understand weaning-associated intestinal dysfunctions and diseases. Examples are given of intestinal genes which may be altered in their expression due to supply with specific nutrients. In that way, gene expression could be modulated by dietary means, thereby acting as a potential therapeutic tool. This could be achieved, for example, by influencing genes coding for digestive or absorptive proteins, thus optimising digestive function and metabolism, but also with regard to immune response, or by influencing proliferative processes, thereby enhancing mucosal repair. This would be of special interest when designing a diet to overcome weaning-associated problems.

Functional proteomics: application of mass spectrometry to the study of enzymology in complex mixtures

This review covers recent developments in mass spectrometry-based applications dealing with functional proteomics with special emphasis on enzymology. The introduction of mass spectrometry into this research field has led to an enormous increase in knowledge in recent years. A major challenge is the identification of "biologically active substances" in complex mixtures. These biologically active substances are, on the one hand, potential regulators of enzymes. Elucidation of function and identity of those regulators may be accomplished by different strategies, which are discussed in this review. The most promising approach thereby seems to be the one-step procedure, because it enables identification of the functionality and identity of biologically active substances in parallel and thus avoids misinterpretation. On the other hand, besides the detection of regulators, the identification of endogenous substrates for known enzymes is an emerging research field, but in this case studies are quite rare. Moreover, the term biologically active substances may also encompass proteins with diverse biological functions. Elucidation of the functionality of those-so far unknown-proteins in complex mixtures is another branch of functional proteomics and those investigations will also be discussed in this review.

Nutritional profiles in a public health perspective: a critical review

Nutritional profiling is defined as 'the science of categorizing foods according to their nutritional composition' and it is useful for food labelling and regulation of health claims. The evidence for the link between nutrients and health outcomes was reviewed. A reduced salt intake reduces blood pressure, but only a few randomized controlled trials have verified the effect of salt on overall and cardiovascular mortality. Evidence linking a reduced fat intake with cardiovascular mortality and obesity is generally non-significant. Studies that have examined the relationship between obesity and diet have produced contrasting results. A simulation exercise that demonstrated that the impact of a reduced salt and fat intake on overall mortality would be negligible in the European population was carried out. Consideration of the literature and the results of this simulation exercise suggest that the introduction of nutritional profiles in Europe would be expected to have a very limited impact on health outcomes.

Applications of metabolomics to understanding obesity in mouse and man

The functional genomic approach of metabolomics consists of the application of a global analytical tool to profile metabolism in a cell, tissue or organism. The most popular analytical tools include high-resolution (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Metabolomics is high throughput and relatively cheap on a per-sample basis and, hence, ideal for collecting large data sets. Biofluids are being used to follow the progression of obesity both in animal models and humans, while tissue extracts can be examined to probe the mechanisms responsible for these biofluid changes. Given these benefits and the results already produced in the field, metabolomics will play an increasing role in understanding the progression of obesity.

Nutrition, immunology, and genetics: future perspectives

This review surveys some of the areas in which nutrients have been shown to have an impact on specific immune functions, the use of molecular and genetic tools to study molecular responses to dietary factors,and the metabolic consequences of food. It also explores the relationships between nutrient molecules, genetic polymorphisms, and the biological system as a whole, while providing a short introduction to nutrition immunology, nutrient-gene interactions and the novel technologies employed in nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics research.

The causes, prevalence, and treatment of obesity revisited in 2009: what have we learned so far?

Obesity is a chronic disease that is increasing in prevalence in the United States and worldwide and is often accompanied by multiple comorbidities that lead to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In April 2009, the American Society for Nutrition hosted the symposium "An Integrative View of Obesity" at Experimental Biology 2009 in New Orleans, LA. The presentations addressed the causes of the obesity epidemic and notably discussed a combination of genetics, obesogenic environment, cultural and racial concerns, and treatment modalities based on what we have learned from research into the physiology and neuroendocrine regulation of appetite and satiety. The fat cell as an endocrine organ, in addition to contributions from the gut and pancreas, has helped us to understand the origins of this neuroendocrine regulation as a survival advantage in human ancestry, with obesogenic ramifications in today's toxic food environment. Suggestions for the reversal of the obesity epidemic were offered, including public health campaigns, community and medical programs, and industry-supported change in our food supply, eating patterns, and lifestyle. Community-structured programs for exercise and work-related physical activity could also engage a healthier lifestyle into the typical day for the average American as well as for individuals in other countries.

The role of dietary protein on lipotoxicity

Lipotoxicity is a metabolic abnormality frequently observed during the development of obesity and is the main cause of several changes in the metabolic observed during metabolic syndrome. Consistent consumption of diets high in saturated fat or simple carbohydrates combined with low physical activity are the main causes of obesity and its comorbidities. However, the contribution of dietary protein and, in particular, the contribution due to the type of dietary protein, to the process of obesity and its metabolic consequences are less well-understood. In this review, we showed that the type of dietary protein has a significant contribution to the process of lipotoxicity through the modulation of insulin secretion and the regulation of adipocyte metabolic function. Consumption of soy protein stimulates insulin secretion to a lower extent than casein despite the fact that both are high-quality proteins. The amino acid profiles of soy protein and its isoflavones are responsible for the reduced insulin secretion. Also, soy protein increases insulin sensitivity, whereas casein has the opposite effect. Consequently, soy protein reduces SREBP-1 expression in the liver leading to low accumulation of hepatic triglycerides, despite the consumption of a high-fat diet. Furthermore, soy protein reduces adipocyte hypertrophy, hyperleptinemia, and free fatty acid concentration. Thus, the influx of FA into the liver decreases, and hepatic oxidation of FA increases. These metabolic changes result in a decrease in lipid depots and ceramide which reduce hepatic lipotoxicity, whereas casein produces the opposite effect. This study emphasizes that the type of dietary protein has an important effect on lipotoxicity.

Nutritional systems biology: definitions and approaches

Nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics are nascent areas that are evolving quickly and riding on the wave of "personalized medicine" that is providing opportunities in the discovery and development of nutraceutical compounds. The human genome sequence and sequences of model organisms provide the equivalent of comprehensive blueprints and parts lists that describe dynamic networks and the bases for understanding their responses to external and internal perturbations. Unfolding the interrelationships among genes, gene products, and dietary habits is fundamental for identifying individuals who will benefit most from, or be placed at risk by, intervention strategies. More accurate assessment of the inputs to human health and the consequences of those inputs measured as accurate transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses would bring personalized health/diet to practice far faster than would waiting for a predictive knowledge of genetic variation. It is widely recognized that systems and network biology has the potential to increase our understanding of how nutrition influences metabolic pathways and homeostasis, how this regulation is disturbed in a diet-related disease, and to what extent individual genotypes contribute to such diseases.

Interação entre gene e nutriente e sua associação à obesidade e ao diabetes melito

A genômica nutricional avalia o efeito da variação genética na interação entre dieta e doenças crônicas. O objetivo deste manuscrito foi revisar os principais polimorfismos associados à obesidade, ao diabetes melito e também aos fatores da dieta. As principais interações entre polimorfismos genéticos e dieta foram: para obesidade: interleucina-6 (IL-6) com consumo energético; receptor ativado por proliferador de peroxissoma gama 2 (PPAR-gama2) e fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) com consumo de gorduras; receptor β-adrenérgico 2 (ADRB2) e receptor da melanocortina-4 (MCR4) com consumo de carboidratos; para perda de peso: proteínas desacopladoras (UCPs) com restrição calórica; para leptinemia: receptor da leptina (LEPR) com restrição calórica; para diabetes melito: PPAR-gama2 com consumo de gordura; para hipertrigliceridemia: proteína transportadora de ácidos graxos 2 (FABP2) com consumo de gordura. Os dados apresentados sugerem que a genômica nutricional é importante ao desenvolvimento da obesidade e do diabetes melito.

Nutrient gene interactions in lipid metabolism

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To summarize recent findings relating to the impact of dietary fat composition on whole body lipid metabolism, and common gene variants on the blood lipid response to dietary fat change.

RECENT FINDINGS

In recent years a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) intake on the regulation of transcription factors involved in lipogenesis and fatty acid and lipoprotein metabolism has emerged. The evidence is suggestive of a greater potency of the long chain n-3 PUFA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and in particular their oxidative products, relative to n-6 PUFA. In the area of nutrigenetics a number of common gene variants have been identified which may be important determinants of the blood lipid response to altered dietary fat composition. However, confirmation of associations in independent cohorts, and an understanding of the size effect of individual or combinations of genotypes, is often lacking.

SUMMARY

Although in the future, genotyping holds the potential as a public health tool to target and personalize dietary advice, nutrigenetics is a relatively new science, and further research is needed to address the existing inconsistencies and knowledge gaps.

Nutrigenomic targeting of carbohydrate craving behavior: can we manage obesity and aberrant craving behaviors with neurochemical pathway manipulation by Immunological Compatible Substances (nutrients) using a Genetic Positioning System (GPS) Map?

Genetic mediated physiological processes that rely on both pharmacological and nutritional principles hold great promise for the successful therapeutic targeting of reduced carbohydrate craving, body-friendly fat loss, healthy body recomposition, and overall wellness. By integrating an assembly of scientific knowledge on inheritable characteristics and environmental mediators of gene expression, we review the relationship of genes, hormones, neurotransmitters, and nutrients as they correct unwanted weight gain coupled with unhappiness. In contrast to a simple one-locus, one-mechanism focus on pharmaceuticals alone, we hypothesize that the use of nutrigenomic treatment targeting multi-physiological neurological, immunological, and metabolic pathways will enable clinicians to intercede in the process of lipogenesis by promoting lipolysis while attenuating aberrant glucose cravings. In turn, this approach will enhance wellness in a safe and predictable manner through the use of a Genetic Positioning System (GPS) Map. The GPS Map, while presently incomplete, ultimately will serve not only as a blueprint for personalized medicine in the treatment of obesity, but also for the development of strategies for reducing many harmful addictive behaviors and promoting optimal health by using substances compatible with the body's immune system.

Owner controlled data exchange in nutrigenomic collaborations: the NuGO information network

New 'omics' technologies are changing nutritional sciences research. They enable to tackle increasingly complex questions but also increase the need for collaboration between research groups. An important challenge for successful collaboration is the management and structured exchange of information that accompanies data-intense technologies. NuGO, the European Nutrigenomics Organization, the major collaborating network in molecular nutritional sciences, is supporting the application of modern information technologies in this area. We have developed and implemented a concept for data management and computing infrastructure that supports collaboration between nutrigenomics researchers. The system fills the gap between "private" storing with occasional file sharing by email and the use of centralized databases. It provides flexible tools to share data, also during experiments, while preserving ownership. The NuGO Information Network is a decentral, distributed system for data exchange based on standard web technology. Secure access to data, maintained by the individual researcher, is enabled by web services based on the the BioMoby framework. A central directory provides information about available web services. The flexibility of the infrastructure allows a wide variety of services for data processing and integration by combining several web services, including public services. Therefore, this integrated information system is suited for other research collaborations.

Flavonoids and intestinal cancers

Cancers of the gastrointestinal tract are amongst the most common causes of death from cancer, but there is substantial variation in incidence across populations. This is consistent with a major causative role for diet. There is convincing evidence that fruits and vegetables protect against cancers of the upper alimentary tract and the large bowel, and this has focused attention on biologically active phytochemicals, and on flavonoids in particular. Many flavonoids exert anticarcinogenic effects in vitro and in animals, and many of these effects occur via signalling pathways known to be important in the pathogenesis of colorectal, gastric and oesophageal cancers. However dietary flavonoid intakes are generally low and their metabolism in humans is extremely complex. The advent of new post-genomic technologies will do much to address these problems by making it possible to monitor patterns of gene expression in humans to provide essential molecular biomarkers of early disease. By combining such data with knowledge of the dietary exposure and bioavailability of the most effective compounds it will be possible to predict the most effective dietary sources and to properly evaluate the potential role of flavonoids in clinical nutrition.

Personalized nutrition for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: a future perspective

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in the Western and developing world. This multi-factorial disease is influenced by many environmental and genetic factors. At present, public health advice involves prescribed population-based recommendations, which have been largely unsuccessful in reducing CVD risk. This is, in part, due to individual variability in response to dietary manipulations, that arises from nutrient-gene interactions (defined by the term 'nutrigenetics'). The shift towards personalized nutritional advice is a very attractive proposition, where, in principle, an individual can be given dietary advice specifically tailored to their genotype. However, the evidence-base for the impact of interactions between nutrients and fixed genetic variants on biomarkers of CVD risk is still very limited. This paper reviews the evidence for interactions between dietary fat and two common polymorphisms in the apolipoprotein E and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma genes. Although an increased understanding of how these and other genes influence response to nutrients should facilitate the progression of personalized nutrition, the ethical issues surrounding its routine use need careful consideration.

The good life: living for health and a life without risks? On a prominent script of nutrigenomics

Like all scientific innovations, nutrigenomics develops through a constant interplay with society. Normative assumptions, embedded in the way researchers formulate strands of nutrigenomics research, affect this interplay. These assumptions may influence norms and values on food and health in our society. To discuss the possible pros and cons of a society with nutrigenomics, we need to reflect ethically on assumptions rooted in nutrigenomics research. To begin with, we analysed a set of scientific journal articles and explicated three normative assumptions embedded in the present nutrigenomics research. First, values regarding food are exclusively explained in terms of disease prevention. Health is therefore a state preceding a sum of possible diseases. Second, it is assumed that health should be explained as an interaction between food and genes. Health is minimised to quantifiable health risks and disease prevention through food–gene interactions. The third assumption is that disease prevention by minimisation of risks is in the hands of the individual and that personal risks, revealed either through tests or belonging to a risk group, will play a large role in disease prevention. Together, these assumptions suggest that the good life (a life worth living, with the means to flourish and thrive) is equated with a healthy life. Our thesis is that these three normative assumptions of nutrigenomics may strengthen the concerns related to healthism, health anxiety, time frames and individual responsibilities for health. We reflect on these ethical issues by confronting them in a thought experiment with alternative, philosophical, views of the good life.

Transcriptomics and micronutrient research

This review examines the extent to which transcriptomic methods have lived up to their promise in the context of nutrition research, placing particular emphasis on examples from micronutrient research. A case is made that the high quality platform technologies now available, together with established standards and systems for data storage and exchange and powerful new methods of data analysis, mean that microarrays have reached a level of technical maturity at which they can be exploited to their full potential. In the context of nutrition and micronutrient research, transcriptomic methods have already been widely applied, albeit primarily in studies using cell lines and animal models. Using this type of approach, a multitude of genes regulated at the mRNA level by dietary components has been identified and this, in turn, has provided new insights into the biological processes affected by nutritional parameters. Evidence from the very limited number of published transcriptomics-based nutritional studies performed in human volunteers suggests that, with appropriate study design, it is feasible to apply transcriptomic methods successfully in dietary intervention trials. On the other hand, gene expression-based biomarker development still poses a major challenge. Here the use of expression profile 'signatures', rather than single genes, may provide a solution. Approaches designed to identify such 'signatures' are being developed and tested widely, primarily in the context of medical research. The applicability and power of such approaches should also be evaluated in the context of nutrition.

Nutrigenomic analysis of diet-gene interactions on functional supplements for weight management

Recent advances in molecular biology combined with the wealth of information generated by the Human Genome Project have fostered the emergence of nutrigenomics, a new discipline in the field of nutritional research. Nutrigenomics may provide the strategies for the development of safe and effective dietary interventions against the obesity epidemic. According to the World Health Organization, more than 60% of the global disease burden will be attributed to chronic disorders associated with obesity by 2020. Meanwhile in the US, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in adults and tripled in children during the past three decades. In this regard, a number of natural dietary supplements and micronutrients have been studied for their potential in weight management. Among these supplements, (-)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a natural extract isolated from the dried fruit rind of Garcinia cambogia, and the micronutrient niacin-bound chromium(III) (NBC) have been shown to be safe and efficacious for weight loss. Utilizing cDNA microarrays, we demonstrated for the first time that HCA-supplementation altered the expression of genes involved in lipolytic and adipogenic pathways in adipocytes from obese women and up-regulated the expression of serotonin receptor gene in the abdominal fat of rats. Similarly, we showed that NBC-supplementation up-regulated the expression of myogenic genes while suppressed the expression of genes that are highly expressed in brown adipose tissue in diabetic obese mice. The potential biological mechanisms underlying the observed beneficial effects of these supplements as elucidated by the state-of-the-art nutrigenomic technologies will be systematically discussed in this review.

Integrating anticipated nutrigenomics bioscience applications with ethical aspects

Nutrigenomics is a subspecialty of nutrition science which aims to understand how gene-diet interactions influence individuals' response to food, disease susceptibility, and population health. Yet ethical enquiry into this field is being outpaced by nutrigenomics bioscience. The ethical issues surrounding nutrigenomics face the challenges of a rapidly evolving field which bring forward the additional dimension of crossdisciplinary integrative research between social and biomedical sciences. This article outlines the emerging nutrigenomics definitions and concepts and analyzes the existing ethics literature concerning personalized nutrition and presents "points to consider" over ethical issues regarding future nutrigenomics applications. The interest in nutrigenomics coincides with a shift in emphasis in medicine and biosciences toward prevention of future disease susceptibilities rather than treatment of already established disease. Hence, unique ethical issues emerge concerning the extent to which nutrigenomics can alter our relation to food, boundaries between health and disease, and the folklore of medical practice. Nutrigenomics can result in new social values, norms, and responsibilities for both individuals and societies. Nutrigenomics is not only another new application of "-omics" technologies in the context of gene-diet interactions. Nutrigenomics may fundamentally change the way we perceive human illness while shifting the focus and broadening the scope of health interventions from patients to healthy individuals. In resource- and time-limited healthcare settings, this creates unique ethical dilemmas and distributive justice issues. Ethical aspects of nutrigenomics applications should be addressed proactively, as this new science develops and increasingly coalesces with other applications of genomics in medicine and public health.

Nutrigenetics and CVD: what does the future hold?

CVD is a common killer in both the Western world and the developing world. It is a multifactorial disease that is influenced by many environmental and genetic factors. Although public health advice to date has been principally in the form of prescribed population-based recommendations, this approach has been surprisingly unsuccessful in reducing CVD risk. This outcome may be explained, in part, by the extreme variability in response to dietary manipulations between individuals and interactions between diet and an individual's genetic background, which are defined by the term ‘nutrigenetics’. The shift towards personalised nutritional advice is a very attractive proposition. In principle an individual could be genotyped and given dietary advice specifically tailored to their genetic make-up. Evidence-based research into interactions between fixed genetic variants, nutrient intake and biomarkers of CVD risk is increasing, but still limited. The present paper will review the evidence for interactions between dietary fat and three common polymorphisms in theapoE,apoAIandPPARγgenes. Increased knowledge of how these and other genes influence dietary response should increase the understanding of personalised nutrition. While targeted dietary advice may have considerable potential for reducing CVD risk, the ethical issues associated with its routine use need careful consideration.

Nutritional Proteomics: Methods and Concepts for Research in Nutritional Science

Nutritional proteomics or nutriproteomics is the application of proteomics methodology to nutrition-related research but also represents the interaction of bioactive food ingredients with proteins, whereby the interaction with proteins occurs in two basically specific ways. Firstly, the effect of nutrients on protein expression, which can be monitored by protein mapping, and secondly, the interaction of nutrients with proteins by post-translational modifications or small-molecule protein interactions. These interactions result in changes to the three-dimensional structure of such effected proteins. As a consequence, their original functions are modulated, resulting for example in reduced activity in the case of enzymes or changes in ability of recognition between molecules such as protein-protein interactions and ligand-receptor interactions. The characterization of such modifications together with functional data from established biochemical and physiological methods will result in a better understanding of the interplay between bioactive dietary components and diet-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes or neurodegenerative diseases. The occurrence of such modifications can possibly be additionally used as biomarkers in the diagnosis and therapy of these diseases as well as biomarkers for the efficacy or safety of selected nutrients.

Nutritional metabonomics: applications and perspectives

Nowadays, nutrition focuses on improving health of individuals through diet. Current nutritional research aims at health promotion, disease prevention, and performance improvement. Modern analytical platforms allow the simultaneous measurement of multiple metabolites providing new insights in the understanding of the functionalities of cells and whole organisms. Metabonomics, "the quantitative measurement of the dynamic multiparametric metabolic response of living systems to pathophysiological stimuli or genetic modifications", provides a systems approach to understanding global metabolic regulations of organisms. This concept has arisen from various applications of NMR and MS spectroscopies to study the multicomponent metabolic composition of biological fluids, cells, and tissues. The generated metabolic profiles are processed by multivariate statistics to maximize the recovery of information to be correlated with well-determined stimuli such as dietary intervention or with any phenotypic data or diet habits. Metabonomics is thus uniquely suited to assess metabolic responses to deficiencies or excesses of nutrients and bioactive components. Furthermore, metabonomics is used to characterize the metabolic phenotype of individuals integrating genetic polymorphism, metabolic interactions with commensal and symbiotic partners such as gut microflora, as well as environmental and behavioral factors including dietary preferences. This paper reports several experimental key aspects in nutritional metabonomics, reviews its applications employing targeted and holistic approach analysis for the study of the metabolic responses following dietary interventions. It also reports the assessment of intra- and inter-individual variability in animal and human populations. The potentialities of nutritional metabonomics for the discovery of new biomarkers and the characterization of metabolic phenotypes are discussed in a context of their possible utilizations for personalized nutrition to provide health maintenance at the individual level.

Pharmacogenomics and nutrigenomics: synergies and differences

The success of the Human Genome Project and the spectacular development of broad genomics tools have catalyzed a new era in both medicine and nutrition. The terms pharmacogenomics and nutrigenomics are relatively new. Both have grown out of their genetic forbears as large-scale genomics technologies have been developed in the last decade. The aim of both disciplines is to individualize or personalize medicine and food and nutrition, and ultimately health, by tailoring the drug or the food to the individual genotype. This review article provides an overview of synergies and differences between these two potentially powerful science areas. Individual genetic variation is the common factor on which both pharmacogenomics and nutrigenomics are based. Each human is genetically (including epigenetics) unique and phenotypically distinct. One of the expectations of both technologies is that a wide range of gene variants and related single-nucleotide polymorphism will be identified as to their importance in health status, validated and incorporated into genotype based strategies for the optimization of health and the prevention of disease. Pharmacogenomics requires rigorous genomic testing that will be regulated and analyzed by professionals and acted on by medical practitioners. As further information is obtained on the importance of the interaction of food and the human genotype in disease prevention and health, pharmacogenomics can provide an opportunity driver for nutrigenomics. As we move from disease treatment to disease prevention, the two disciplines will become more closely aligned.

Metabolomics as a functional genomic tool for understanding lipid dysfunction in diabetes, obesity and related disorders

With the rise of systems biology, a number of approaches have been developed to globally profile a tier of organization in a cell, tissue or organism. Metabolomics is an approach that attempts to profile all the metabolites in a biological matrix. One of the major challenges of this approach, as with other 'omic' technologies, is that the metabolome is context-dependent and will vary with pathology, developmental stage and environmental factors. Thus, the possibility of globally profiling the metabolome of an organism is a genuine analytical challenge, as by definition this must also take into consideration all relevant factors that influence metabolism. Despite these challenges, the approach has already been applied to understand the metabolism in a range of animal models, and has more recently started to be projected into the clinical situation. In this review, the technologies currently being used in metabolomics will be assessed prior to examining their use to study diseases related to the metabolic syndrome, including Type II diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and fatty liver disease.