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Epigenetics and metabolism in 2011

Epigenetics, the life-course and metabolic disease

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 8, pages 74–76 (2012)Cite this article

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Clinical and experimental studies suggest that early life experiences, perhaps spanning multiple generations, affect lifelong risk of metabolic dysfunction through epigenetic mechanisms. Data published in 2011 suggest that epigenetic analysis could potentially have utility as a marker of early metabolic pathology and might enable early life prophylaxis.

Both population and individual variation in susceptibility to an obesogenic environment exist. Genome-wide association studies have been disappointing in explaining this variation, and there is a growing focus on possible epigenetic explanations. Epigenetic variation is most likely to arise early in the life-course. An extensive body of experimental, clinical and epidemiological evidence demonstrates that early life developmental factors—including the maternal diet, but operating within the normative range of developmental exposures—affect the risk of developing metabolic disease later in life.1 This phenomenon is sometimes termed developmental programming. The early observations were largely ignored because of the absence of a plausible biological mechanism, but explanations developed over the past decade have been framed in terms of developmental plasticity—the adaptive processes enabling an organism to respond to environmental cues acting in early life and adjust its developmental trajectory. Developmental plasticity is at least partly underpinned by epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation and histone modifications. A number of papers published during 2011 have reinforced the validity of these conclusions.

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Acknowledgements

F. Low provided assistance with reviewing the literature.

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  1. Liggins Institute, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, 1142, Auckland, New Zealand

    Peter D. Gluckman

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Gluckman, P. Epigenetics, the life-course and metabolic disease. Nat Rev Endocrinol 8, 74–76 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2011.226

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