Nutriepigenomics: Personalized Nutrition Meets Epigenetics

In the last two decades, nutritional research has shifted focus from prevention of nutritional deficiency in populations to the design of optimal nutritional recommendations to individual requirements, commonly referred to as personalized nutrition. Understanding the molecular genetic mechanisms behind individual differences in response to diets has rapidly grown through advances in nutrigenomics. Recent nutrigenomic evidence suggests that gene-nutrient interactions are mediated by epigenetic modulators without altering the DNA sequence. Most epigenetic modification enzymes require nutrients or their metabolites as substrates or cofactors, and the global or locus-specific epigenetic pattern reflects how individuals have responded to nutrients and bioactive compounds. The epigenetic landscape provides depth and texture to the genetic material for establishment and maintenance of novel phenotypes and is adjustable to disease risk. Identification of the epigenetic patterns that report on the function of the genome can be used as biomarkers to contribute to the design of optimized dietary interventions. In this review, we discuss recent advances and limitations in nutrigenomics and identification of epigenetic biomarkers associated with diet response in individuals as well as their potential use in diagnosis and therapy, in particular for metabolic disorders and cancer. Future prospects hold that identification of novel nutriepigenetic biomarkers will provide important diagnostic tools to guide us in development of personalized dietary interventions.