Epigenetics and Common Non Communicable Disease

Tabatabaiefar, Mohammad Amin; Sajjadi, Roshanak S; Narrei, Sina

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-10616-4_2

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 117 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Examining the mechanistic basis of environmental effects on NCD risk and occurrence Several candidate molecular and physiological mechanisms will be considered that are known to be environmentally responsive and involved in the aetiology of NCDs, [102][103][104][105] including: (1) genome-wide DNA methylation, an epigenetic gene regulatory mechanism; (2) C-reactive protein and IL-6, circulating biomarkers of systemic inflammation and (3) proportional and total counts of neutrophils, lymphocytes, basophils, eosinophils and monocytes, which provide information about immune function and current infection status. To assess the involvement of these and other candidate mechanisms in mediating environmental effects on NCD risk and occurrence, we will first ask whether any of our environmental variables (composite or individually, focusing on those that are identified as most predictive of NCD risk and occurrence) predict variation in our mechanistic variables (using methods appropriate for each data type).…”

Section: Testing For Environmental Effects On Ncd Risk and Occurrencementioning

confidence: 99%

Orang Asli Health and Lifeways Project (OA HeLP): a cross-sectional cohort study protocol

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionNon-communicable disease (NCD) risk is influenced by environmental factors that are highly variable worldwide, yet prior research has focused mainly on high-income countries where most people are exposed to relatively homogeneous and static environments. Understanding the scope and complexity of environmental influences on NCD risk around the globe requires more data from people living in diverse and changing environments. Our project will investigate the prevalence and environmental causes of NCDs among the indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia, known collectively as the Orang Asli, who are currently undergoing varying degrees of lifestyle and sociocultural changes that are predicted to increase vulnerability to NCDs, particularly metabolic disorders and musculoskeletal degenerative diseases.Methods and analysisBiospecimen sampling and screening for a suite of NCDs (eg, cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis), combined with detailed ethnographic work to assess key lifestyle and sociocultural variables (eg, diet, physical activity and wealth), will take place in Orang Asli communities spanning a gradient from remote, traditional villages to acculturated, market-integrated urban areas. Analyses will first test for relationships between environmental variables, NCD risk factors and NCD occurrence to investigate how environmental changes are affecting NCD susceptibility among the Orang Asli. Second, we will examine potential molecular and physiological mechanisms (eg, epigenetics and systemic inflammation) that mediate environmental effects on health. Third, we will identify intrinsic (eg, age and sex) and extrinsic (eg, early-life experiences) factors that predispose certain people to NCDs in the face of environmental change to better understand which Orang Asli are at greatest risk of NCDs.Ethics and disseminationApproval was obtained from multiple ethical review boards including the Malaysian Ministry of Health. This study follows established principles for ethical biomedical research among vulnerable indigenous communities, including fostering collaboration, building cultural competency, enhancing transparency, supporting capacity building and disseminating research findings.

show abstract

Section: Testing For Environmental Effects On Ncd Risk and Occurrencementioning

confidence: 99%

Orang Asli Health and Lifeways Project (OA HeLP): a cross-sectional cohort study protocol

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several candidate molecular and physiological mechanisms will be considered that are known to be environmentally responsive and involved in the etiology of NCDs [99][100][101][102] , including: (1) genomewide DNA methylation, an epigenetic gene regulatory mechanism; (2) IL-6 and CRP, circulating biomarkers of systemic inflammation; and (3) proportional and total counts of neutrophils, lymphocytes, basophils, eosinophils, and monocytes, which provide information about immune function and current infection status. To assess the involvement of these and other candidate mechanisms in mediating environmental effects on NCD risk factors and occurrence, we will first ask whether any of our environmental variables (composite or individually, focusing on those that are identified as most predictive of NCD risk factors and occurrence) predict variation in our mechanistic variables (using methods appropriate for each data type, e.g., references 103 and 104).…”

Section: Examining the Mechanistic Basis Of Environmental Effects On Ncd Risk And Occurrencementioning

confidence: 99%

Orang Asli Health and Lifeways Project (OA HeLP): Study Protocol

Wallace

Lea

Lim

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction. Non-communicable disease (NCD) risk is influenced by environmental factors that are highly variable worldwide, yet prior research has focused mainly on high-income countries where most people are exposed to relatively homogenous and static environments. Understanding the scope and complexity of environmental influences on NCD risk around the globe requires more data from people living in diverse and changing environments. Our project will investigate the prevalence and environmental causes of NCDs among the indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia, known collectively as the Orang Asli, who are currently undergoing varying degrees of lifestyle and sociocultural changes that are predicted to increase vulnerability to NCDs, particularly metabolic disorders and musculoskeletal degenerative diseases. Methods. Biospecimen sampling and screening for a suite of NCDs (e.g., cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis), combined with detailed ethnographic work to assess key lifestyle and sociocultural variables (e.g., diet, physical activity, technology usage), will take place in Orang Asli communities spanning a gradient from remote, traditional villages to acculturated, market-integrated urban areas. Analyses will, first, test for relationships between environmental variables, NCD risk factors, and NCD occurrence to investigate how environmental changes are affecting NCD susceptibility among the Orang Asli. Second, we will examine potential molecular and physiological mechanisms (e.g., epigenetics, systemic inflammation) that mediate environmental effects on health. Third, we will identify intrinsic (e.g., age, sex) and extrinsic (e.g., early life experiences) factors that predispose certain people to NCDs in the face of environmental change to better understand which Orang Asli individuals are at greatest risk of NCDs. Ethics. Approval was obtained from multiple ethical review boards including a committee at the Malaysian Ministry of Health. This study follows established principles for ethical biomedical research among vulnerable indigenous communities, including fostering collaboration, building cultural competency, enhancing transparency, supporting capacity building, and disseminating research findings.

show abstract

“…DNA methylation, chemical modification of histone proteins, non-coding RNA, and other mechanisms are involved in epigenetic regulation. Epigenetic factors are believed to play a vital role in human twin variation, in addition to causing a variety of diseases such as cancer, when abnormally regulated (Tabatabaiefar et al 2019).…”

Section: Epigenomic Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and environmental factors of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder: insights from twin studies

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Twin studies of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder have employed epidemiological approaches that determine heritability by comparing the concordance rate between monozygotic twins (MZs) and dizygotic twins. The basis for these studies is that MZs share 100% of their genetic information. Recently, biological studies based on molecular methods are now being increasingly applied to examine the differences between MZs discordance for psychiatric disorders to unravel their possible causes. Although recent advances in next-generation sequencing have increased the accuracy of this line of research, there has been greater emphasis placed on epigenetic changes versus DNA sequence changes as the probable cause of discordant psychiatric disorders in MZs. Since the epigenetic status differs in each tissue type, in addition to the DNA from the peripheral blood, studies using DNA from nerve cells induced from postmortem brains or induced pluripotent stem cells are being carried out. Although it was originally thought that epigenetic changes occurred as a result of environmental factors, and thus were not transmittable, it is now known that such changes might possibly be transmitted between generations. Therefore, the potential possible effects of intestinal flora inside the body are currently being investigated as a cause of discordance in MZs. As a result, twin studies of psychiatric disorders are greatly contributing to the elucidation of genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of psychiatric conditions.

show abstract

Epigenetics and Common Non Communicable Disease

Cited by 12 publications

References 117 publications

Orang Asli Health and Lifeways Project (OA HeLP): a cross-sectional cohort study protocol

Orang Asli Health and Lifeways Project (OA HeLP): a cross-sectional cohort study protocol

Orang Asli Health and Lifeways Project (OA HeLP): Study Protocol

Genetic and environmental factors of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder: insights from twin studies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About