Nutritional epigenetics with a focus on amino acids: implications for the development and treatment of metabolic syndrome

Fetal and neonatal programming of postnatal growth and feed efficiency in swine

“…Nutrition can regulate gene expression, micro-RNA biogenesis, and epigenetics in animal cells [6, 85]. For example, dietary glutamine reduces the intestinal expression of genes that promote oxidative stress and immune activation, while increasing the intestinal expression of genes that enhance cell growth and the removal of oxidants [92].…”

“…These problems are exacerbated by a variety of factors encountered in the different phases of swine production, including extreme ranges of environmental temperatures, feed hygiene and safety, suboptimal nutrition, and disease [5]. When adverse conditions occur during gestation or nursing, the negative impacts on the offspring can last for their entire life cycle and can be carried over to the next generation or beyond [6]. This concept is called fetal or neonatal programming [7], which involves the covalent modifications of nucleotide bases in DNAs without changes in their sequences [8–10].…”

“…Thus, the global swine industry must overcome enormous challenges to achieve a high efficiency of pork production and high economic returns. One approach is to optimize the nutrition of the mothers and neonates [6, 11]. The main objective of this article is to highlight and integrate the complex aspects of swine biological characteristics, IUGR, as well as the fetal and neonatal programming of postnatal growth and feed efficiency (weight gain:feed intake) in pigs.…”

Epigenetics and obesity cardiomyopathy: From pathophysiology to prevention and management

“…An epigenetic diet was shown to affect longevity and carcinogenesis via modulation of certain genes encoding telomerase and p16 (Daniel & Tollefsbol, 2015). Amino acids (e.g., glycine, histidine, methionine and serine) and vitamins (B6, B12 and folate) are currently the main dietary supplements in provision of methyl donors for DNA and protein methylation (Ji et al, 2016). It is noteworthy that epigenetic modulation occurs in response to dietary factors, which may affect or be affected by gut microbiota.…”

Dairy products and the French paradox: Could alkaline phosphatases play a role?

“…These vitamins are methyl donors so important in epigenetic regulation of gene expression [55]. Importantly, deficiencies in such dairy-containing vitamins depress IAP in the intestine while specific supplementations restore it [56][57][58].…”