Polymorphisms and Responsiveness to Diet

Nutrition is an important factor regulating human health, and there is a strong relationship between gene variation and susceptibility to complex diet-related disease. Obesity and diabetes are the result of gene-environment interaction.

This module gives students the chance to learn the basics about common complex diseases, gene variation, and their possible relationship with diet. The module includes basic information about multifactorial diseases such as obesity and type-2 diabetes; describes the different methods used in the search for candidate genes in what are complex polygenic diseases; and provides data showing the importance of interplay between genetic and environmental factors in predisposition for these diseases.

In the first of three section the important concepts of common complex disease, susceptibility genes, polymorphisms and the interaction between genes and environment wil be explained, along with research strategies to study the genetic component of complex diseases. In the next two sections, the mechanisms, metabolic pathways and the most common polymorphisms associated with susceptibility to obesity and diabetes will be discussed.

Keywords/ Key phrases

Genetics; complex disease; obesity; diabetes; polymorphism; common complex disease; susceptibility genes