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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Nutrigenomics and public health

subject

description

Abstract Nutrigenomics (the study of the bidirectional interactions between genes and diet) is rapidly developing new bodies of knowledge that will change future research in human nutrition and public health. In fact, this new research topic is becoming essential in order to design and investigate the best dietary recommendations with the aim of preventing several diseases. In this regard, it is now recognized that dietary components can affect the phenotype by regulating gene expression. Although methylation is the widest modification mediated by diet components, recent literature has pointed out several other types of epigenetic modifications, such as regulations by noncoding RNAs and histone modifications. However, a complete understanding of the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms for sustained effects of nutrients on gene expression are still far from being completely elucidated. In this regard, several research works demonstrated that some diseases are enhanced by the interactions between specific genes and environmental factors. Therefore some of these epigenetic modifications can determine changes in gene expression patterns. In order to better understand the degree of interconnections between nutrigenomics and public health, it is necessary (1) to complete the knowledge of the different diet-related parts involved, together with (2) clear information on the experimental design to use, (3) followed by great computing power to elaborate the inputs from different fields. Finally, direct interactions between genes and nutrients should be also considered in terms of their impact on health aspects. Considering that, a personalized diet based in nutrigenomics could benefit public health because of its ability to motivate different consumers to change their dietary habits.