Nutrigenomics in periodontics- An overview

Nutrigenomics is an emerging field of science and technology revealing inter-relationships between nutrients and human genome using modern tools such as transcriptomics, metabolomics, epigenomics and proteomics. It implies that nutrition and genetics both play a significant role in the maintenance of human health as well as the development of lethal diseases. Nutrition may be important in redressing the balance between microbial challenge and the host response because it has been implicated in a number of inflammatory diseases and conditions, including type II diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, all of which have also been associated with periodontal diseases. Based on the pathology of periodontal disease, the assumption is that specific nutrients which can modulate immune and inflammatory responses could in turn modulate periodontal health. Antioxidant vitamins and trace elements which are known to be depleted during periods of inflammation can counteract reactive oxygen species damage to cellular tissues and modulate immune-cell function through the regulation of redox-regulated transcription factors and ultimately affect the production of cytokines and prostaglandins, thus leading to periodontal changes. Thus we now have the opportunity to study nutrient-gene interactions and how diet affects the inflammatory mechanisms underlying severe periodontitis.