title: Epigenetics and nutrition-related epidemics of metabolic diseases: Current perspectives and challenges.
abstract: We live in a world fascinated by the relationship between disease and nutritional disequilibrium. The subtle and slow effects of chronic nutrient toxicity are a major public health concern. Since food is potentially important for the development of "metabolic memory", there is a need for more information on the type of nutrients causing adverse or toxic effects. We now know that metabolic alterations produced by excessive intake of some nutrients, drugs and chemicals directly impact epigenetic regulation. We envision that understanding how metabolic pathways are coordinated by environmental and genetic factors will provide novel insights for the treatment of metabolic diseases. New methods will enable the assembly and analysis of large sets of complex molecular and clinical data for understanding how inflammation and mitochondria affect bioenergetics, epigenetics and health. Collectively, the observations we highlight indicate that energy utilization and disease are intimately connected by epigenetics. The challenge is to incorporate metabolo-epigenetic data in better interpretations of disease, to expedite therapeutic targeting of key pathways linking nutritional toxicity and metabolism. An additional concern is that changes in the parental phenotype are detectable in the methylome of subsequent offspring. The effect might create a menace to future generations and preconceptional considerations.
authors: Unitat de Recerca Biomèdica, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Hernández-Aguilera
authors: Unitat de Recerca Biomèdica, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain.
authors: Salvador
authors: S
authors: Fernández-Arroyo
authors: Molecular Oncology Group, Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGI), Girona, Spain; ProCURE (Program Against Cancer Therapeutic Resistance), Metabolism and Cancer Group, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Girona, Spain.
authors: Elisabet
authors: E
authors: Cuyàs
authors: Unitat de Recerca Biomèdica, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain.
authors: Fedra
authors: F
authors: Luciano-Mateo
authors: Unitat de Recerca Biomèdica, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain.
authors: Noemi
authors: N
authors: Cabre
authors: Unitat de Recerca Biomèdica, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain.
authors: Jordi
authors: J
authors: Camps
authors: Lipid and Atherosclerosis Unit, IMIBIC, Reina Sofia University Hospital, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain; CIBER Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Jose
authors: J
authors: Lopez-Miranda
authors: Molecular Oncology Group, Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGI), Girona, Spain; ProCURE (Program Against Cancer Therapeutic Resistance), Metabolism and Cancer Group, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Girona, Spain. Electronic address: jmenendez@idibgi.org.
authors: Javier A
authors: JA
authors: Menendez
authors: Unitat de Recerca Biomèdica, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain; The Campus of International Excellence Southern Catalonia, Tarragona, Spain. Electronic address: jorge.joven@urv.cat.
authors: Jorge
authors: J
authors: Joven
mesh_terms: D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D006801:Humans; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: DNA methylation; Diabetes; Epigenetics; Metabolomics; Nutrient toxicity; Obesity