[Epigenetics, interface between environment and genes: role in complex diseases].
Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence. Epigenetics is one of the major mechanisms explaining the "Developmental Origin of Health and Diseases" (DOHaD). Besides genetic background inherited from parents, which confers susceptibility to certain pathologies, epigenetic changes constitute the memory of previous events, either positive or negative, along the life cycle, including at the in utero stage. The later exposition to hostile environment may reveal such susceptibility, with the development of various pathologies, among them numerous chronic complex diseases. The demonstration of such a sequence of events has been shown for metabolic diseases as obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. In contrast to genetic predisposition, which is irreversible, epigenetic changes are potentially reversible, thus giving targets not only for prevention, but possibly also for the treatment of certain complex diseases.
Université de Liege, Chef de Service, Service de Diabétologie, Nutrition et Maladies métaboliques et Unité de Pharmacologie clinique, CHU de Liège, Belgique. Andre.Scheen@chu.ulg.ac.be
A J
AJ
Scheen
C
C
Junien
D000818:Animals; D004194:Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D004777:Environment; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D005796:Genes / Q000502:physiology*; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological
D005819:Genetic Markers