Nutrigenomics Flashcards
What is Nutrigenomics?
The field of study concerned with complex interaction among genes and environmental factors
What is the difference between Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics?
Nutrigenetics–> effects of gene variation on the organism’s functional ability, spec its ability to digest, absorb, and use food to sustain life
*differences in the DNA in the genome that result in changes in the protein product that affect nutrition requirements (they could be higher)
Sometimes the requirement of a nutrient is higher or lower, or susceptibility to saturated fat is increased or decreased
Nutrigenomics–> how bioactive components within food affect gene expression and function
- its effect in the realm of epigenetics (how environmental things can affect your genomes and histone proteins) and short-term gene regulation
- ->Nutrients you take in can affect gene expression
- ->Based on your environment, regardless of your genome, it can effect what genes you may express (some can be turned off and some can be turned on)
- ->You can have the same genome but express different genes
Pharmacogenomics
studies how genes interact with pharmaceutical drugs
Some people catabolize drugs at a faster rate than others and would need higher doses. What is an example of this?
VKORC1 is a key enzyme in recycling reduced vitamin K and is important in y-carboxylation of vitamin K dependent coagulation factors, thus, promoting blood clotting.
Different alleles (variants) of this gene may mean that some need lower or higher doses of coumarin-based anticoagulants, such as warfarin
What is a disadvantage of nutrigenomics?
Food contains many compounds in highly varying amounts, so the study is a much more difficult task
If a single gene has a mutation, what does this mean?
Its different allele of the gene
What can be affected by this mutation? Give examples.
The function of the protein product encoded by the gene is affected, often with loss of function or low function
A very key amino acid in the higher structure of the protein could be changed
*PKU in which phenylalanine metabolism is impaired
What does multifactoral mean? What can help a multifactoral factor?
When diseases develop as a combination of gene differences
obesity is multifactorial
Nutrition and lifestyle recommendations can benefit thee people
What are SNPs?
a DNA sequence variation occurring when a Single Nucleotide in the genome (or other shared sequence) differs between members of a biological species or paired chromosomes
Explain the example of the variation or SNP 677C>T in the gene for 5,10 methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR)?
Why is this an example of nutrigenetics?
With this SNP, the result is an altered enzyme and people with this have problems when they consume less than adequate folate and may actually have a higher requirement for folate
The presence of a variant in your genome results in how one handles a nutrient and can affect the requirement or make one have a greater sensitivity to deficiency
What are some other genes related to lipid metabolism?
APOE (apoprotein E), APOA1 (apoprotein A1), and CETP (cholesterol ester transport protein)
APOE is important for ____ and its receptor.
intermediate lipids (carries good cholesterol into cells)
Explain APOA1.
carries HDL (bad cholesterol) into the cell
Explain CETP.
“lipid transfer protein” and it transfers cholesteryl ester from HDL to other lipoproteins
What is epigenetics?
Information that is passed from one generation to the next-to daughter cells at cell division or from parent to offspring-but is not encoded in DNA sequences. Much of it is in the form of covalent modification of histones and/or the placement of histone variants in chromosomes.”
parent to daughter cells not passed from parent to child
