Transgenerational Transmission of Epigenetic Modifications in Development of Obesity and Other Chronic Diseases |Biomedgrid

Obesity is a chronic condition that is also a risk factor of several other chronic conditions including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, and neurodegeneration diseases. Chronic conditions are caused by environmental factors including dietary and lifestyle factors and are developed over long periods of time. Mechanism studies indicate that epigenetic modifications induced by environmental factors are involved in development of chronic conditions. One of the important questions in the area of obesity and other chronic diseases study is to address the mechanisms that how parental chronic diseases affect the health of the offspring. In addition to the possible permanent changes of the organs caused by the intrauterine environment hypothesized by the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) theory, recent evidence indicates that the effects of parental obesity and chronic diseases on fetal development and offspring health are mediated through the transmission of epigenetic modifications via both the female germline and the male germline. Obesity and type 2 diabetes are closely related with each other. Along with the mechanism studies using animal models, the current priorities in obesity and type 2 diabetes research are identification and confirmation of the specific epigenetic biomarkers associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes in human subjects and identification of the dietary and lifestyle factors that contribute to each of the identified specific epigenetic biomarkers.