Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is one of the main butyrate producers in the healthy human gut. Information on its genetic diversity is lacking, although two genetic phylotypes have been differentiated. In the present study, F. prausnitzii phylotypes were examined in faeces of obese and type two diabetes with similar eating behaviour compared to a lean control group. The purpose of the study was to analyse if an excessive butyrate production induced by different F. prausnitzii phylotypes discriminates between obese developing type two diabetes or not. The faecal samples were analysed for the total abundance of F. prausnitzii 16S rRNA copies, fragment lengths polymorphism, high resolution melt curve analysis (HRM) and the butyryl-CoA:acetate CoA-transferase gene copies and melt curve variances. The diabetic group was found to differ significantly from the lean control group in the results of qPCR, butyryl-CoA:acetyate CoA-transferase gene melt curve, and HRM. F. prausnitzii phylotypes differed in obese with and without developed diabetes type two. Different phylotypes of F. prausnitzii may lead to differences in the inflammatory genesis in the host. F. prausnitzii phylotypes may have an influence on developing type two diabetes and might also act as starting points for prevention and therapy of obesity associated disease.

The present review is focused on the most recent knowledge of epigenetically active nutrients/diets including transgenerational inheritance and prenatal predispositions related to increased risk for cancer, metabolic syndrome, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Obesity- or diabetes-induced oxidative stress is discussed as a major risk factor for DNA damage. Vitamin E and many polyphenols exhibit antioxidative activities with consequences on epigenetic regulation of inflammation and DNA repair. The present study investigated the counteraction of oxidative stress by vitamin E in the colorectal cancer cell line Caco-2 under normal (1 g/l) and high (4.5 g/l) glucose cell culture condition. Malondialdehyde (MDA) as a surrogate marker of lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) was analyzed. Gene expression and promoter methylation of the DNA repair gene MutL homolog 1 (MLH1) and the DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) as well as global methylation by LINE-1 were investigated. Results revealed a dose-dependent counteracting effect of vitamin E on H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Thereby, 10 μM vitamin E proved to be more efficient than did 50 μM in reducing MDA. Further, an induction of MLH1 and DNMT1 gene expression was noticed, accompanied by an increase in global methylation. Whether LINE-1 hypomethylation is a cause or effect of oxidative stress is still unclear. In conclusion, supplementation of exogenous antioxidants like vitamin E in vitro exhibits beneficial effects concerning oxidative stress as well as epigenetic regulation involved in DNA repair.

Genetic and environmental factors, especially nutrition and lifestyle, have been discussed in the literature for their relevance to epidemic obesity. Gene-environment interactions may need to be understood for an improved understanding of the causes of obesity, and epigenetic mechanisms are of special importance. Consequences of epigenetic mechanisms seem to be particularly important during certain periods of life: prenatal, postnatal and intergenerational, transgenerational inheritance are discussed with relevance to obesity. This review focuses on nutrients, diet and habits influencing intergenerational, transgenerational, prenatal and postnatal epigenetics; on evidence of epigenetic modifiers in adulthood; and on animal models for the study of obesity.

The results of this study indicate that equol has beneficial effects on structural as well as molecular skin parameters and encourages further investigations to decipher the epigenetic regulation of skin ageing and interactions of equol.

Objective: In vitro and in vivo studies in rodents have demonstrated many health promoting properties of individual phytochemicals including antioxidative and chemopreventive effects. Recently combination of substances is claimed to enhance activity.The objective of this study was to investigate health benefits of a daily consumption of a combination of a large variety of phytochemicals (TimeBlock ® ). To assess potential changes we analyzed specific biomarkers that are associated with aging, oxidative stress and DNA stability: Methylation of LINE-1, c-Myc, IL-6, MLH1, DNMT1, ITGA2B and telomere length. Methods:For this study 110 healthy participants of both sexes between 31-76 years were recruited, 101 subjects were included in further analysis. A small reference group (n=20) without intervention within the same age interval served as control. Participants received a plant based dietary supplement (TimeBlock ® ) for 6 months by oral administration. Ingredients included extracts from green tea (EGCG), wheatgrass (tocotrienols), barley grass (folic acid), tomatoes (lycopene), tagetes (zeaxanthin, lutein), algae, shiitake mushrooms (vitamin D) and grape seeds (resveratrol). Capillary blood samples were collected from all participants before administration and within 6 days after the end of the study period following DNA extraction, bisulfite conversion and qPCR as well as high resolution melting curve analysis addressing analysis of LINE-1, c-Myc, IL-6, MLH1, DNMT1, ITGA2B and telomere length. Nutrition, lifestyle and health status were assessed with a standardized food and lifestyle questionnaire. Results and discussion:Our results confirmed the positive effect of plant derived antioxidants on telomeres and inflammation frequency. An age-specific drift of analyzed markers could be observed. While methylation of c-Myc-a key factor in telomerase regulation-was not affected by administration, total telomere length showed a significant increase, which we suggest to be linked with an increased cell turnover and accelerated apoptosis of senescent or mutated cells without enhancing telomerase activity. Further, methylation of mismatch repair protein gene MLH1 showed a strong negative correlation with telomere length, supporting the influence of MMR on telomere regulation. Conclusion:The results of the present study indicate that a combined administration of a variety of phytochemicals can be a potential preventive and therapeutic agent, as each substance exhibits different modes of action and in combination, health promoting effects could be potentiated. Addressing different mechanisms of aging, specific phytochemicals could be used as new therapeutic approach against age-related diseases.

Introduction: Topical investigations have demonstrated that oxidative stress and inflammation play key roles in biological aging and determine incidence and course of age-related diseases. Lifestyle and environmental factors hugely impact epigenetic regulation and DNA stability with telomere attrition and epigenetic instability providing a potential record of the cumulative burden of endogenous and exogenous oxidative noxae. Certain physiologically active plant components exhibit antioxidative activities affecting epigenetic regulation of inflammation response and DNA repair.Methods: Against this background, the present study investigated green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in the context of telomere regulation in Caco-2 colorectal adenocarcinoma cells vs. ES-1 primary skin fibroblasts. Cell lines were treated with 20 and 200 µM EGCG for 36, 72 and 144 hours, respectively. Telomerase activity, relative telomere length as well as methylation status of hTERT and c-Myc from different culture conditions were assessed. Malondialdehyde (MDA) served as a surrogate marker of potential pro-oxidative effects of EGCG in a physiologically relevant tissue model.Results: EGCG incubation was associated with telomere shortening and decreased telomerase activity in Caco-2 cells, and relatively longer telomeres along with increased methylation of six 5'—C—phosphate—G—3' (CpG) sites in the promoter region of human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (hTERT) in fibroblasts. At low concentrations, EGCG significantly decreased oxidative damage to lipids in Caco-2 cells and attenuated H2O2 induced oxidation at higher concentrations.Conclusion: These results suggest differential EGCG-mediated telomeric modulation in cancer vs. primary cells and a specific antioxidant activity of EGCG against oxidative damage to lipids in abnormal cells.Keywords: Caco-2, epigallocatechin gallate, telomeres, hTERT, DNA methylation, telomerase, oxidative stress, malondialdehyde