Do dietary factors impact the epigenome and thereby metabolism in humans?

Background: Dietary factors, e.g., different lipids and glucose affect metabolism and risk for disease such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. Recent human studies from our group have shown that overfeeding different lipids and glucose alter the DNA methylome, both in vitro and in vivo. It is possible that these epigenetic changes link different diets to risk of disease by changing the gene expression pattern in human tissues. Nevertheless, our knowledge of regulation of epigenetic mechanisms by the diet remains limited.

Aim: To examine if different dietary factors regulate DNA methylation and gene expression in human tissues and cells and whether this affects metabolism and risk for disease.