Rico-Rosillo Guadalupe, Vega-Robledo Gloria Bertha, Silva-García Raúl, Oliva-Rico Diego
División de Investigación, Facultad de Medicina, UNAM, Av. Universidad 3000, circuito escolar s/n, 04510 México, DF.
Rev Alerg Mex. 2014 Apr-Jun;61(2):99-109.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the respiratory tract with a complex genetic background influenced by the exposition to a series of environmental factors. Genetic studies can only elucidate part of the heritability and susceptibility of asthma and even though several diseases have an evident genetic etiology, only a fraction of the genes involved in their pathogenicity have been identified. The epigenetic regulation of the latter is a fact one should bear in mind in order to explain the major triggers of diseases whose understanding is complicated, such as allergies and asthma. External stimulus such as nourishment, stress, physical activity, atmospheric pollution, tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking can induce either gene silencing or gene expression. In this regard, epigenetics can explain how these environmental factors influence our genetic inheritance. There is growing evidence that backs-up the fact that DNA methylation, histone post-translational modification and microRNA expression are influenced by the environment. This helps explaining how several of the risk factors mentioned contribute to the development and inheritance of asthma. In this review, different environmental factors and their relation with the main epigenetic regulatory mechanisms will be analyzed, as well as their possible role in the development of asthma.
哮喘是一种呼吸道慢性炎症性疾病，具有复杂的遗传背景，受到一系列环境因素暴露的影响。基因研究只能阐明哮喘遗传力和易感性的一部分，而且尽管几种疾病有明显的遗传病因，但参与其致病性的基因只有一小部分已被确定。为了解释诸如过敏和哮喘等理解起来较为复杂的疾病的主要触发因素，人们应牢记后者的表观遗传调控这一事实。营养、压力、体育活动、大气污染、吸烟和饮酒等外部刺激可诱导基因沉默或基因表达。在这方面，表观遗传学可以解释这些环境因素如何影响我们的遗传。越来越多的证据支持DNA甲基化、组蛋白翻译后修饰和微小RNA表达受环境影响这一事实。这有助于解释上述几种风险因素如何导致哮喘的发生和遗传。在本综述中，将分析不同的环境因素及其与主要表观遗传调控机制的关系，以及它们在哮喘发生中的可能作用。
