Genes, lipids and cardiovascular diseases: nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics

摘要

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most frequent cause of death world-wide and one of the most widely spread causes of morbidity in Western countries. There is a clustering of CVD in families or in population subgroups, which suggests that some individuals are at greater risk than others. Clinicians already take this into account, by considering the family and personal history of their patients as possible specific risk factors, which can increase significantly the probability of developing CVD. Susceptibility to atherosclerosis is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, including diet. Genetic factors may modify the effects of lifestyle changes on lipid, glucose and energy metabolism, and subjects with different genotypes may respond differently to changes in diet and exercise. In the population there is a range of genetic risk profiles with each individual occupying a position along the risk spectrum, from low to high genetic risk, depending on the number of defective genes each has inherited. Similarly, individuals adopt a different position on the environmental spectrum of risk by the lifestyle choices they make. Today, more than 300 environmental risk factors favorising the development of CVD have been described, acting through numerous metabolic pathways. An increase in the risk of CHD occurs when a high genetic risk individual enters a high risk environment. Either alone is unlikely to cause premature CHD compliance (TALMUD and HUMPHRIES, 2002).