Ardekani Ali M, Jabbari Sepideh
Reproductive Biotechnology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
Avicenna J Med Biotechnol. 2009 Apr;1(1):9-17.
Cancer incidence is projected to increase in the future and an effectual preventive strategy is required to face this challenge. Alteration of dietary habits is potentially an effective approach for reducing cancer risk. Assessment of biological effects of a specific food or bioactive component that is linked to cancer and prediction of individual susceptibility as a function of nutrient-nutrient interactions and genetics is an essential element to evaluate the beneficiaries of dietary interventions. In general, the use of biomarkers to evaluate individuals susceptibilities to cancer must be easily accessible and reliable. However, the response of individuals to bioactive food components depends not only on the effective concentration of the bioactive food components, but also on the target tissues. This fact makes the response of individuals to food components vary from one individual to another. Nutrigenomics focuses on the understanding of interactions between genes and diet in an individual and how the response to bioactive food components is influenced by an individual's genes. Nutrients have shown to affect gene expression and to induce changes in DNA and protein molecules. Nutrigenomic approaches provide an opportunity to study how gene expression is regulated by nutrients and how nutrition affects gene variations and epigenetic events. Finding the components involved in interactions between genes and diet in an individual can potentially help identify target molecules important in preventing and/or reducing the symptoms of cancer.
预计未来癌症发病率会上升，因此需要一种有效的预防策略来应对这一挑战。改变饮食习惯可能是降低癌症风险的有效方法。评估与癌症相关的特定食物或生物活性成分的生物学效应，以及根据营养素-营养素相互作用和遗传学预测个体易感性，是评估饮食干预受益者的关键要素。一般来说，使用生物标志物来评估个体对癌症的易感性必须易于获取且可靠。然而，个体对生物活性食物成分的反应不仅取决于生物活性食物成分的有效浓度，还取决于靶组织。这一事实使得个体对食物成分的反应因人而异。营养基因组学专注于理解个体中基因与饮食之间的相互作用，以及个体基因如何影响对生物活性食物成分的反应。营养素已被证明会影响基因表达，并诱导DNA和蛋白质分子发生变化。营养基因组学方法提供了一个机会，来研究基因表达如何受营养素调控，以及营养如何影响基因变异和表观遗传事件。找出个体中基因与饮食相互作用所涉及的成分，可能有助于识别在预防和/或减轻癌症症状方面重要的靶分子。
