274663 Nutritional epigenetic effects in early Life

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 11:10 AM - 11:30 AM

Yuan-Xiang Pan, PhD , Nutrient-gene and Epigenetics Group, Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Urbana, IL
     
Maternal nutrition has long been acknowledged as one of the most important factors contributing to pregnancy outcomes. Understanding the consequences of fetal programming on adult phenotypes and disease risks has been advanced by numerous studies. The focus of this presentation is on the role of epigenetic modifications on early programming and the influence of nutrition on epigenetic changes in the early development. We are just beginning to understand how maternal nutrition and intra-uterine environment may influence not only immediate pregnancy outcomes, but also health throughout the course of the offspring's life. Epigenetic modulations in the fetus during pregnancy caused by maternal dietary intake are thus of keen interest. While epigenetic mechanisms have traditionally been studied mostly in the context of DNA methylation patterns, evidence shows that epigenetic modifications reflect a dynamic combination of DNA methylation and histone modifications. In addition to the regulation of DNA methylation pattern, histone modifications may provide a wider arena to explain the epigenetic events that result in changes in gene expression in a dynamic environment. Epigenetic effects of maternal nutrition to infant growth and development suggest that helping pregnant and nursing women making healthy dietary choices can be an important component of public health endeavors in improving not only the health and well-being of the women themselves but also reducing the burden of chronic disease in their offspring.

Learning Objectives:
Describe the early nutritional effects at epigenetic level and how these modifications change long-term health.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal or co-principal of multiple funded grants focusing on early nutrition programming with an emphasis on epigenetic mechanisms of developmental origins of chronic diseases in offspring. Among my scientific interests has been the understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms by which maternal dietary factors influence the risk of diseases in later life, in order that effective interventions can be developed to reduce the incidence of disease.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4109.0: Epigenetics - Significance and Relevance in Public Health Disease Prevention