Nutrition and epigenetics in human health

Abstract

Adult-onset diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are now highly prevalent in both developed and developing countries. Evidence from both human and animal studies shows that the prenatal and early postnatal environments can influence susceptibility to chronic diseases in later life. The mechanisms by which the early life environment influences future disease risk have been suggested to include the altered epigenetic regulation of gene expression. In this article, we will review how the early life environment alters the epigenome leading to an altered susceptibility to disease in later life and how our understanding of the underlying mechanisms may allow the development of new intervention strategies to reduce the burden of disease in later life.