Gil Angel
Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos José Mataix, Centro de Investigación Biomédica, Universidad de Granada, Avenida del Conocimiento s/n, 18100 Armilla. Granada. España.
Nutr Hosp. 2013 Mar-Apr;28(2):241-9. doi: 10.3305/nh.2013.28.2.6424.
Nutrition plays a fundamental role in the maintenance of health and the treatment of disease, and serves as the crossroads for many disciplines. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology represents a key brand of science to ascertain the mechanism of action of nutrients and other food bioactive compounds in health and disease. The aim of the present Jesús M. Culebras lecture is to consider the future of the relationships between Molecular Biology and Clinical Nutrition and to discuss the use of molecular and genetic tools to study molecular responses to dietary factors and the metabolic consequences of food and to consider major challenges on human nutrition sciences in the 21(st) century. Particular emphasis is given to the identification and use of novel biomarkers in inflammatory diseases. Likewise, the importance of the human microbiome and how microorganisms can be safely utilized in the prevention and management of infectious and chronic diseases are discussed. Moreover, the key role of nutrigenetics, nutrigenomics and epigenetics in the new era of nutrition is considered. Nutrigenetics refers to the role of DNA sequence variation in the responses to nutrients, whereas nutrigenomics is the study of the role of nutrients in gene expression. Epigenetics is the study of mitotically heritable alterations in gene expression potential that are not caused by DNA sequence alterations. In the past decade, it has increasingly been recognized that dysregulation of epigenetic mechanisms may play an important role in human disease. Indeed, there is increasing interest in epigenetic mechanisms underlying phenotype modification modulated by nutrients. Further research in those areas should contribute to evaluate functionality of specific nutrients and bioactive compounds in Clinical Nutrition and allow personalized nutritional advice.
营养在维持健康和疾病治疗中起着根本性作用，并且是多学科的交叉点。生物化学与分子生物学是一门关键的科学领域，用于确定营养素和其他食物生物活性化合物在健康和疾病中的作用机制。本次赫苏斯·M·库莱布拉斯讲座的目的是探讨分子生物学与临床营养之间关系的未来发展，讨论如何运用分子和遗传工具来研究对饮食因素的分子反应以及食物的代谢后果，并思考21世纪人类营养科学面临的重大挑战。讲座特别强调了在炎症性疾病中新型生物标志物的识别与应用。同样，也讨论了人类微生物组的重要性以及如何安全利用微生物来预防和管理感染性疾病和慢性疾病。此外，还探讨了营养遗传学、营养基因组学和表观遗传学在新时代营养领域中的关键作用。营养遗传学是指DNA序列变异在对营养素反应中的作用，而营养基因组学则是研究营养素在基因表达中的作用。表观遗传学是研究由DNA序列改变以外的因素引起的、可通过有丝分裂遗传的基因表达潜能变化。在过去十年中，人们越来越认识到表观遗传机制失调可能在人类疾病中发挥重要作用。事实上，对于营养素调节表型修饰背后的表观遗传机制的兴趣也日益浓厚。在这些领域的进一步研究应有助于评估特定营养素和生物活性化合物在临床营养中的功能，并提供个性化的营养建议。
