Nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics hold much promise for providing better nutritional advice to the public generally, genetic subgroups and individuals. Because nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics require a deep understanding of nutrition, genetics and biochemistry and ever new ‘omic’ technologies, it is often difficult, even for educated professionals, to appreciate their relevance to the practice of preventive approaches for optimising health, delaying onset of disease and diminishing its severity. This review discusses (i) the basic concepts, technical terms and technology involved in nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics; (ii) how this emerging knowledge can be applied to optimise health, prevent and treat diseases; (iii) how to read, understand and interpret nutrigenetic and nutrigenomic research results, and (iv) how this knowledge may potentially transform nutrition and dietetic practice, and the implications of such a transformation. This is in effect an up-to-date overview of the various aspects of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics relevant to health practitioners who are seeking a better understanding of this new frontier in nutrition research and its potential application to dietetic practice.

Keywords:
Nutrition Research, Personalised nutrition, Dietetics, Nutrigenetics, Nutrigenomics
1.
Simopoulos AP: Nutrigenetics/nutrigenomics. Annu Rev Public Health 2010;31:53–68.
2.
Corella D, Ordovas JM: Nutrigenomics in cardiovascular medicine. Circ Cardiovasc Genet 2009;2:637–651.
3.
Trujillo E, Davis C, Milner J: Nutrigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and the practice of dietetics. J Am Diet Assoc 2006;106:403–413.
4.
Ferguson LR: Nutrigenomics approaches to functional foods. J Am Diet Assoc 2009;109:452–458.
5.
Kaput J: Nutrigenomics research for personalized nutrition and medicine. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2008;19:110–120.
6.
Ordovas JM, Corella D: Nutritional genomics. Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet 2004;5:71–118.
7.
Fenech MF: Nutriomes and nutrient arrays – the key to personalised nutrition for DNA damage prevention and cancer growth control. Genome Integr 2010;1:11.
8.
Simopoulos AP, Ordovas JM: Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics. World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics. Basel, Karger, 2004, vol 93.
9.
Frazer KA, Murray SS, Schork NJ, Topol EJ: Human genetic variation and its contribution to complex traits. Nat Rev Genet 2009;10:241–251.
10.
Ordovas JM: Gender, a significant factor in the cross talk between genes, environment, and health. Gend Med 2007;4(suppl B):S111–S122.
11.
Jirtle RL, Skinner MK: Environmental epigenomics and disease susceptibility. Nat Rev Genet 2007;8:253–262.
12.
Sharma S, Kelly TK, Jones PA: Epigenetics in cancer. Carcinogenesis 2010;31:27–36.
13.
Aravin AA, Hannon GJ: Small RNA silencing pathways in germ and stem cells. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 2008;73:283–290.
14.
Fenech M: The Genome Health Clinic and Genome Health Nutrigenomics concepts: diagnosis and nutritional treatment of genome and epigenome damage on an individual basis. Mutagenesis 2005;20:255–269.
15.
Fenech MF: Dietary reference values of individual micronutrients and nutriomes for genome damage prevention: current status and a road map to the future. Am J Clin Nutr 2010;91:1438S–1454S.
16.
Bull C, Fenech M: Genome-health nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics: nutritional requirements or ‘nutriomes’ for chromosomal stability and telomere maintenance at the individual level. Proc Nutr Soc 2008;67:146–156.
17.
Ordovas JM, Corella D: Nutritional genomics. Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet 2004;5:71–118.
18.
de Graaf AA, Freidig A, De Roos B, et al: Nutritional systems biology modeling: from molecular mechanisms to physiology. PLoS Comput Biol 2009;5:e1000554.
19.
Garcia-Bailo B, Toguri C, Eny KM, El-Sohemy A: Genetic variation in taste and its influence on food selection. OMICS 2009;13:69–80.
20.
El-Sohemy A, Stewart L, Khataan N, et al: Nutrigenomics of taste – impact on food preferences and food production. Forum Nutr 2007;60:176–182.
21.
Thorisson GA, Stein LD: The SNP Consortium website: past, present and future. Nucleic Acids Res 2003;31:124–127.
22.
Elliott RM: Transcriptomics and micronutrient research. Br J Nutr 2008;(suppl 3):S59–S65.
23.
Scalbert A, Brennan L, Fiehn O, et al: Mass-spectrometry-based metabolomics: limitations and recommendations for future progress with particular focus on nutrition research. Metabolomics 2009;5:435–458.
24.
El-Sohemy A: Nutrigenetics. Forum Nutr 2007;60:25–30.
25.
Cornelis MC, El-Sohemy A, Kabagambe EK, Campos H: Coffee, CYP1A2 genotype, and risk of myocardial infarction. JAMA 2006;295:1135–1141.
26.
Cornelis MC, El-Sohemy A: Coffee, caffeine, and coronary heart disease. Curr Opin Lipidol 2007;18:13–19.
27.
Kaput J: Nutrigenomics – 2006 update. Clin Chem Lab Med 2007;45:279–287.
28.
Levy S, Sutton G, Ng P, et al: The diploid genome sequence of an individual human. PLoS Biol 2007;5:e254.
29.
United States Department of Agriculture: Steps to a healthier you. www.mypyramid.gov
30.
Ferguson LR, Philpott M, Dryland P: Nutrigenomics in the whole-genome scanning era: Crohn’s disease as example. Cell Mol Life Sci 2007;64:3105–3118.
31.
Ng PC, Murray SS, Levy S, Venter JC: An agenda for personalized medicine. Nature 2009;461:724–726.
32.
Lazarou J, Pomeranz BH, Corey PN: Incidence of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. JAMA 1998;279:1200–1205.
33.
Pirmohamed M, James S, Meakin S, et al: Adverse drug reactions as cause of admission to hospital: prospective analysis of 18 820 patients. BMJ 2004;329:15–19.
34.
Sangkuhl K, Berlin DS, Altman RB, Klein TE: PharmGKB: understanding the effects of individual genetic variants. Drug Metab Rev 2008;40:539–551.
35.
McGough N, Cummings JH: Coeliac disease: a diverse clinical syndrome caused by intolerance of wheat, barley and rye. Proc Nutr Soc 2005;64:434–450.
36.
Ciacci C, Iovino P, Amoruso D, Siniscalchi M, Tortora R, Di Gilio A, Fusco M, Mazzacca G: Grown-up coeliac children: the effects of only a few years on a gluten-free diet in childhood. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2005;21:421–429.
37.
Greco L, Romino R, Coto I, et al: The first large population based twin study of coeliac disease. Gut 2002;50:624–628.
38.
Romanos J, van Diemen CC, Nolte IM, et al: Analysis of HLA and non-HLA alleles can identify individuals at high risk for celiac disease. Gastroenterology 2009;137:834–840.
39.
Arkadianos I, Valdes AM, Marinos E, Florou A, Gill RD, Grimaldi KA: Improved weight management using genetic information to personalize a calorie controlled diet. Nutr J 2007;6:29–35.
40.
Tapueru-French CA: Can the use of genetics benefit weight loss in a New Zealand setting? Unpubl MSc thesis, University of Auckland, 2009.
41.
Frayling TM, Timpson NJ, Weedon MN, Zeggini E, Freathy RM, Lindgren CM, Perry JR, Elliott KS, Lango H, et al: A common variant in the FTO gene is associated with body mass index and predisposes to childhood and adult obesity. Science 2007;316:889–894.
42.
Andreasen CH, Stender-Petersen KL, Mogensen MS, et al: Low physical activity accentuates the effect of the FTO rs9939609 polymorphism on body fat accumulation. Diabetes 2007;57:95–101.
43.
Adibhatla RM, Hatcher JF: Altered lipid metabolism in brain injury and disorders. Subcell Biochem 2008;49:241–268.
44.
Oster T, Pillot T: Docosahexaenoic acid and synaptic protection in Alzheimer’s disease mice. Biochim Biophys Acta 2010;1801:791–798.
45.
Suchy J, Chan A, Shea TB: Dietary supplementation with a combination of alpha-lipoic acid, acetyl-L-carnitine, glycerophosphocoline, docosahexaenoic acid, and phosphatidylserine reduces oxidative damage to murine brain and improves cognitive performance. Nutr Res 2009;29:70–74.
46.
Zhao H, Li Q, Zhang Z, Pei X, Wang J, Li Y: Long-term ginsenoside consumption prevents memory loss in aged SAMP8 mice by decreasing oxidative stress and up-regulating the plasticity-related proteins in hippocampus. Brain Res 2009;1256:111–122.
47.
Vauzour D, Corona G, Spencer JP: Caffeic acid, tyrosol and p-coumaric acid are potent inhibitors of 5-S-cysteinyl-dopamine induced neurotoxicity. Arch Biochem Biophys 2010;501:106–111.
48.
Chen CM, Yin MC, Hsu CC, Liu TC: Antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects of four cysteine-containing agents in striatum of MPTP-treated mice. Nutrition 2007;23:589–597.
49.
Bouwman LI: Personalized nutrition advice, an everyday-life perspective; thesis, Wageningen University, 2008, ISBN 978–90–8585–363–3.
50.
Tai ES, Tan CE: Genes, diet and serum lipid concentrations: lessons from ethnically diverse populations and their relevance to coronary heart disease in Asia. Curr Opin Lipidol 2004;15:5–12.
51.
Mak KH, Chia KS, Kark JD, et al: Ethnic differences in acute myocardial infarction in Singapore. Eur Heart J 2003;24:151–160.
52.
Tan CE, Emmanuel SC, Tan BY, Jacob E: Prevalence of diabetes and ethnic differences in cardiovascular risk factors. The 1992 Singapore National Health Survey. Diabetes Care 1999;22:241–247.
53.
Cutter J, Tan BY, Chew SK: Levels of cardiovascular disease risk factors in Singapore following a national intervention programme. Bull World Health Organ 2001;79:908–915.
54.
Hughes K: Trends in mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Singapore, 1959 to 1983. Int J Epidemiol 1986;15:44–50.
55.
Khoo KL, Tan H, Liew YM, Deslypere JP, Janus E: Lipids and coronary heart disease in Asia. Atherosclerosis 2003;169:1–10.
56.
Dina C, Meyre D, Gallina S, et al: Variation in FTO contributes to childhood obesity and severe adult obesity. Nat Genet 2007;39:724–726.
57.
Frayling TM, Timpson NJ, Weedon MN, et al: A common variant in the FTO gene is associated with body mass index and predisposes to childhood and adult obesity. Science 2007;316:889–894.
58.
Cecil JE, Tavendale R, Watt P, Hetherington MM, Palmer CN: An obesity-associated FTO gene variant and increased energy intake in children. N Engl J Med 2008;359:2558–2566.
59.
Rampersaud E, Mitchell BD, Pollin TI, et al: Physical activity and the association of common FTO gene variants with body mass index and obesity. Arch Intern Med 2008;168:1791–1797.
60.
Vimaleswaran KS, Li S, Zhao JH, et al: Physical activity attenuates the body mass index-increasing influence of genetic variation in the FTO gene. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;90:425–428.
61.
Reaven GM: The metabolic syndrome: requiescat in pace. Clin Chem 2005;51:931–938.
62.
Abbasi F, Brown BW Jr, Lamendola C, McLaughlin T, Reaven GM: Relationship between obesity, insulin resistance, and coronary heart disease risk. J Am Coll Cardiol 2002;40:937–943.
63.
Corella D, Qi L, Tai ES, et al: Perilipin gene variation determines higher susceptibility to insulin resistance in Asian women when consuming a high-saturated fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Diabetes Care 2006;29:1313–1319.
64.
Tai ES, Ordovas JM: The role of perilipin in human obesity and insulin resistance. Curr Opin Lipidol 2007;18:152–156.
65.
World Cancer Research Fund, American Institute of Cancer Research, Diet, Nutrition and Prevention of Human Cancer: A Global Perspective, World Cancer Research Fund. Washington, American Institute of Cancer Research, 2007.
66.
World Health Organization: The World Health Report, Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2002.
67.
Doll R, Peto R: The causes of cancer: quantitative estimates of avoidable risks of cancer in the United States today. J Natl Cancer Inst 1981;66:1191–1308.
68.
Enderlin CA, Coleman EA, Stewart CB, Hakkak R: Dietary soy intake and breast cancer risk. Oncol Nurs Forum 2009;36:531–539.
69.
Chen D, Dou QP: Tea polyphenols and their roles in cancer prevention and chemotherapy. Int J Mol Sci 2008;9:1196–1206.
70.
Kavanaugh CJ, Trumbo PR, Ellwood KC: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s evidence-based review for qualified health claims: tomatoes, lycopene, and cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2007;99:1074–1085.
71.
Lampe JW: Interindividual differences in response to plant-based diets: implications for cancer risk. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;89:1553S–1557S.
72.
Milner JA: Nutrition and cancer: essential elements for a roadmap. Cancer Lett 2008;269:189–198.
73.
Davis CD, Milner JA: Biomarkers for diet and cancer prevention research: potentials and challenges. Acta Pharmacol Sin 2007;28:1262–1273.
74.
Moy KA, Yuan JM, Chung FL, Wang XL, Van Den Berg D, Wang R, Gao YT, Yu MC: Isothiocyanates, glutathione S-transferase M1 and T1 polymorphisms and gastric cancer risk: a prospective study of men in Shanghai, China. Int J Cancer 2009;125:2652–2659.
75.
Küry S, Buecher B, Robiou-du-Pont S, Scoul C, Sébille V, Colman H, Le Houérou C, Le Neel T, Bourdon J, Faroux R, Ollivry J, Lafraise B, Chupin LD, Bézieau S: Combinations of cytochrome P450 gene polymorphisms enhancing the risk for sporadic colorectal cancer related to red meat consumption. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16:1460–1467.
76.
Jiang J, Gajalakshmi V, Wang J, Kuriki K, Suzuki S, Nakamura S, Akasaka S, Ishikawa H, Tokudome S: Influence of the C161T but not Pro12Ala polymorphism in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma on colorectal cancer in an Indian population. Cancer Sci 2005;96:507–512.
77.
Perry GH, Dominy NJ, Claw KG, Lee AS, Fiegler H, Redon R, Werner J, Villanea FA, Mountain JL, Misra R, Carter NP, Lee C, Stone AC: Diet and the evolution of human amylase gene copy number variation. Nat Genet 2007;39:1256–1260.
78.
Johansson I, Ingelman-Sundberg M: CNVs of human genes and their implication in pharmacogenetics. Cytogenet Genome Res 2008;123:195–204.
79.
Stratigopoulos G, Padilla SL, LeDuc CA, Watson E, Hattersley AT, McCarthy MI, Zeltser LM, Chung WK, Leibel RL: Regulation of Fto/Ftm gene expression in mice and humans. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2008;294:R1185–R1196.
80.
Ferguson LR: Role of dietary mutagens in cancer and atherosclerosis. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2009;12:343–349.
81.
Abrams SA, Griffin IJ, Hawthorne KM, Chen Z, Gunn SK, Wilde M, Darlington G, Shypailo RJ, Ellis KJ: Vitamin D receptor Fok1 polymorphisms affect calcium absorption, kinetics, and bone mineralization rates during puberty. J Bone Miner Res 2005;20:945–953.
82.
Wong HL, Seow A, Arakawa K, Lee HP, Yu MC, Ingles SA: Vitamin D receptor start codon polymorphism and colorectal cancer risk: effect modification by dietary calcium and fat in Singapore Chinese. Carcinogenesis 2003;24:1091–1095.
83.
Ross SA: Nutritional genomic approaches to cancer prevention research. Exp Oncol 2007;29:250–256.
84.
Dolinoy DC: The agouti mouse model: an epigenetic biosensor for nutritional and environmental alterations on the fetal epigenome. Nutr Rev 2008;66:S7–S11.
85.
Dolinoy DC, Weidman JR, Waterland RA, Jirtle RL: Maternal genistein alters coat color and protects Avy mouse offspring from obesity by modifying the fetal epigenome. Environ Health Perspect 2006;114:567–572.
86.
Myzak MC, Dashwood RH: Histone deacetylases as targets for dietary cancer preventive agents: lessons learned with butyrate, diallyl disulfide, and sulforaphane. Curr Drug Targets 2006;7:443–452.
87.
Myzak MC, Hardin K, Wang R, Dashwood RH, Ho E: Sulforaphane inhibits histone deacetylase activity in BPH-1, LnCaP and PC-3 prostate epithelial cells. Carcinogenesis 2006;27:811–819.
88.
Lackner DH, Bähler J: Translational control of gene expression from transcripts to transcriptomes. Int Rev Cell Mol Biol 2008;271:199–251.
89.
Goh KI, Cusick ME, Valle D, Childs B, Vidal M, Barabási AL: The human disease network. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007;104:8685–8690.
90.
Legg RL, Tolman JR, Lovinger CT, Lephart ED, Setchell KD, Christensen MJ: Diets high in selenium and isoflavones decrease androgen-regulated gene expression in healthy rat dorsolateral prostate. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 2008;6:57.
91.
Kim YS, Milner JA: Dietary modulation of colon cancer risk. J Nutr 2007;137:2576S–2579S.
92.
van Erk MJ, Blom WA, van Ommen B, Hendriks HF: High-protein and high-carbohydrate breakfasts differentially change the transcriptome of human blood cells. Am J Clin Nutr 2006;84:1233–1241.
93.
Lin DW, Neuhouser ML, Schenk JM, Coleman IM, Hawley S, Gifford D, Hung H, Knudsen BS, Nelson PS, Kristal AR: Low-fat, low-glycemic load diet and gene expression in human prostate epithelium: a feasibility study of using cDNA microarrays to assess the response to dietary intervention in target tissues. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16:2150–2154.
94.
Trujillo E, Davis C, Milner J: Nutrigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and the practice of dietetics. J Am Diet Assoc 2006;106:403–413.
95.
Zucker M: Studies into the relationship between GPCR43 and BuA-induced effects on colorectal cancer; thesis, University of Adelaide, 2008.
96.
Fung KY, Lewanowitsch T, Henderson ST, Priebe I, Hoffmann P, McColl SR, Lockett T, Head R, Cosgrove LJ: Proteomic analysis of butyrate effects and loss of butyrate sensitivity in HT29 colorectal cancer cells. J Proteome Res 2009;8:1220–1227.
97.
Topping DL, Clifton PM: Short-chain fatty acids and human colonic function: roles of resistant starch and nonstarch polysaccharides. Physiol Rev 2001;81:1031–1064.
98.
Hamer HM, Jonkers D, Venema K, Vanhoutvin S, Troost FJ, Brummer RJ: Review article: the role of butyrate on colonic function. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2008;27:104–119.
99.
Fung KY, Lewanowitsch T, Henderson ST, Priebe I, Hoffmann P, McColl SR, Lockett T, Head R, Cosgrove LJ: Proteomic analysis of butyrate effects and loss of butyrate sensitivity in HT29 colorectal cancer cells. J Proteome Res 2009;8:1220–1227.
100.
Ahmed K, Tunaru S, Offermanns S: GPR109A, GPR109B and GPR81, a family of hydroxy-carboxylic acid receptors. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2009;30:557–562.
101.
Gupta N, Martin PM, Prasad PD, Ganapathy V: SLC5A8 (SMCT1)-mediated transport of butyrate forms the basis for the tumor suppressive function of the transporter. Life Sci 2006;78:2419–2425.
102.
Mariadason JM, Corner GA, Augenlicht LH: Genetic reprogramming in pathways of colonic cell maturation induced by short chain fatty acids: comparison with trichostatin A, sulindac, and curcumin and implications for chemoprevention of colon cancer. Cancer Res 2000;60:4561–4572.
103.
Cresci GA, Thangaraju M, Mellinger JD, Liu K, Ganapathy V: Colonic gene expression in conventional and germ-free mice with a focus on the butyrate receptor GPR109A and the butyrate transporter SLC5A8. J Gastrointest Surg 2010; 14:449–461.
104.
Ganapathy V, Gopal E, Miyauchi S, Prasad PD: Biological functions of SLC5A8, a candidate tumour suppressor. Biochem Soc Trans 2005;33:237–240.
105.
Sina C, Gavrilova O, Forster M, Till A, Derer S, Hildebrand F, Raabe B, Chalaris A, Scheller J, Rehmann A, Franke A, Ott S, Hasler R, Nikolaus S, Folsch UR, Rose-John S, Jiang HP, Li J, Schreiber S, Rosenstiel P: G protein-coupled receptor 43 is essential for neutrophil recruitment during intestinal inflammation. J Immunol 2009;183:7514–7522.
106.
Thangaraju M, Cresci GA, Liu K, Ananth S, Gnanaprakasam JP, Browning DD, Mellinger JD, Smith SB, Digby GJ, Lambert NA, Prasad PD, Ganapathy V: GPR109A is a G-protein-coupled receptor for the bacterial fermentation product butyrate and functions as a tumor suppressor in colon. Cancer Res 2009;69:2826–2832.
107.
Thangaraju M, Gopal E, Martin PM, Ananth S, Smith SB, Prasad PD, Sterneck E, Ganapathy V: SLC5A8 triggers tumor cell apoptosis through pyruvate-dependent inhibition of histone deacetylases. Cancer Res 2006;66:11560–11564.
108.
Cahill LE, Fontaine-Bisson B, El-Sohemy A: Functional genetic variants of glutathione S-transferase protect against serum ascorbic acid deficiency. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;90:1411–1417.
109.
Xie L, Innis SM: Genetic variants of the FADS1 FADS2 gene cluster are associated with altered (n-6) and (n-3) essential fatty acids in plasma and erythrocyte phospholipids in women during pregnancy and in breast milk during lactation. J Nutr 2008;138:2222–2228.
110.
Yuan J-M, Koh W-P, Sun C-L, Lee H-P, Yu MC: Green tea intake, ACE gene polymorphism and breast cancer risk among Chinese women in Singapore. Carcinogenesis 2005;26:1389–1394.
111.
Petermann I, Triggs CM, Huebner C, et al: Mushroom intolerance: a novel diet-gene interaction in Crohn’s disease. Br J Nutr 2009;102:506–508.
112.
McBride CM, Koehly LM, Sanderson SC, Kaphingst KA: The behavioral response to personalized genetic information: will genetic risk profiles motivate individuals and families to choose more healthful behaviors? Annu Rev Public Health 2010;31:89–103.
© 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel
2011
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
You do not currently have access to this content.