Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jan 25;23(3):1341. doi: 10.3390/ijms23031341.
Obesity has become a global epidemic that has a negative impact on population health and the economy of nations. Genetic predispositions have been demonstrated to have a substantial role in the unbalanced energy metabolism seen in obesity. However, these genetic variations cannot entirely explain the massive growth in obesity over the last few decades. Accumulating evidence suggests that modern lifestyle characteristics such as the intake of energy-dense foods, adopting sedentary behavior, or exposure to environmental factors such as industrial endocrine disruptors all contribute to the rising obesity epidemic. Recent advances in the study of DNA and its alterations have considerably increased our understanding of the function of epigenetics in regulating energy metabolism and expenditure in obesity and metabolic diseases. These epigenetic modifications influence how DNA is transcribed without altering its sequence. They are dynamic, reflecting the interplay between the body and its surroundings. Notably, these epigenetic changes are reversible, making them appealing targets for therapeutic and corrective interventions. In this review, I discuss how these epigenetic modifications contribute to the disordered energy metabolism in obesity and to what degree lifestyle and weight reduction strategies and pharmacological drugs can restore energy balance by restoring normal epigenetic profiles.
肥胖已成为影响全球人口健康和国家经济的一种全球性流行病。研究表明，遗传易感性在肥胖患者失衡的能量代谢中起着重要作用。然而，这些遗传变异并不能完全解释过去几十年肥胖症的大规模增长。越来越多的证据表明，现代生活方式特征，如摄入高热量食物、久坐不动的行为，或暴露于工业内分泌干扰物等环境因素，都导致了肥胖症的流行。近年来，对 DNA 及其改变的研究进展极大地提高了我们对表观遗传学在调节肥胖和代谢性疾病中能量代谢和消耗的功能的理解。这些表观遗传修饰影响 DNA 的转录方式而不改变其序列。它们是动态的，反映了身体与周围环境之间的相互作用。值得注意的是，这些表观遗传变化是可逆的，这使得它们成为治疗和矫正干预的有吸引力的靶点。在这篇综述中，我讨论了这些表观遗传修饰如何导致肥胖症中紊乱的能量代谢，以及生活方式和减肥策略以及药物在多大程度上可以通过恢复正常的表观遗传谱来恢复能量平衡。
