Genomic interactions with disease and nutrition

The putative influence of genomic factors on the responsiveness to nutrient intake is a newly developed field of research. As well, there is growing interest for determining the interactions between nutrient, inflammation and aging and the possible impact on lifespan and disease development. Inflammation adversely affects health in many diseases with an inflammatory basis, such as atherosclerosis, obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The metabolic effects of inflammation are mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines. Metabolic effects include insulin insensitivity, hyperlipidemia, muscle protein loss and oxidant stress. Aging is also characterized by an increase in inflammatory stress and contains some of the hallmarks of inflammatory disease. It is also a phase of life when inflammatory diseases rise in incidence. Evidence is accumulating that the individual level of cytokine production is influenced by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in cytokine genes. The combination of SNPs might control the relative level of inflammatory stress following inflammatory stimuli and diseases. These genomic characteristics might therefore influence lifespan, morbidity and mortality in diseases with an infectious or inflammatory basis. Recent studies indicate that genotypic factors may influence the effectiveness of such immunonutrients as anti-oxidants and n-3 pollyunsaturated fatty acids. A better understanding of this aspect of nutrient gene interactions and of the genomic factors which influence the intensity of inflammation in disease will help in the targeting of nutritional therapy.