title: Can dietary intake of phase 2 protein inducers affect the rising epidemic of diseases such as type 2 diabetes?
abstract: I propose that those populations with a long history of agriculture, particularly where survival was dependent upon relatively few food types, were selected for resistance to diseases such as type 2 diabetes. The basis for this resistance is hypothesized to be a higher basal level of ability to scavenge strong oxidants than found in populations whose recent ancestors depended to a great extent on gathering for their subsistence. Specifically, I hypothesize that selective pressures on populations whose ancestors ate a very restricted diet resulted in the development of populations with high basal levels of phase 2 protein gene expression; a consequence of which is that their tissues have a greater ability to cope with oxidative stress. In contrast, populations with a recent ancestry of hunting and gathering are more dependent upon the consumption of dietary phase 2 protein inducers for adequate phase 2 gene expression necessary for maintaining their tissues' abilities to cope with oxidative stress. This hypothesis can be readily tested by examining basal and induced phase 2 protein gene expression in umbilical cord fibroblasts, obtained from infants of different genetic backgrounds, grown in cell culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. juurlink@duke.usask.ca
authors.forename: Bernhard H J
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Juurlink
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004032:Diet; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010945:Plants, Edible / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D011506:Proteins