Koulouri Adamantia, Zannas Anthony S
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
J Alzheimers Dis Rep. 2024 Oct 18;8(1):1372-1380. doi: 10.1177/25424823241284227. eCollection 2024.
Dementia encompasses a broad spectrum of neuropsychiatric disease states marked by cognitive impairments that interfere with day-to-day functioning. Most dementias are complex phenotypes that result from a genome-environment interplay. Epigenetic regulation has emerged as a candidate mechanism for studying this interplay. In this narrative review, we discuss state-of-the-art evidence on environmental exposures relevant to dementia, including nutrition, physical exercise, psychosocial stress, and environmental toxins, and highlight epigenetic mechanisms that have been reported as a putative link between each exposure and dementia risk. We then discuss the clinical implications and future directions of this line of research. An improved understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms involved in dementia pathogenesis can promote the development of novel biomarkers for predicting outcomes but also targeted therapies to intervene early in the course of the disease.
痴呆症涵盖了广泛的神经精神疾病状态，其特征是认知障碍会干扰日常功能。大多数痴呆症是由基因组与环境相互作用导致的复杂表型。表观遗传调控已成为研究这种相互作用的一种候选机制。在这篇叙述性综述中，我们讨论了与痴呆症相关的环境暴露的最新证据，包括营养、体育锻炼、心理社会压力和环境毒素，并强调了据报道为每种暴露与痴呆症风险之间的假定联系的表观遗传机制。然后，我们讨论了这一研究方向的临床意义和未来方向。更好地理解痴呆症发病机制中涉及的表观遗传机制，不仅可以促进用于预测结果的新型生物标志物的开发，还能推动在疾病进程早期进行干预的靶向治疗的发展。
