Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
HEALTH & SCIENCE 2025-II, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hatice Esra DURAN, Editör, EFE AKADEMİ, İstanbul, ss.9-516, 2025
Epigenetics is the study of the inherited mechanisms by which gene expression is permanently or temporarily regulated without any change in the deoxyribo nucleic acid (DNA) sequence. The best characterized of these mechanisms are DNA methylation, post-translational modifications of histone proteins and regulatory processes mediated by non-coding ribonucleic acids (RNA). Epigenetic regulation plays a central role in many biological processes, from embryonic development to cell differentiation, aging, environmental responses and disease development. In particular, environmental factors - such as nutrition, stress, exposure to toxins, physical activity - can affect epigenetic structure and cause dynamic reprogramming of genetic expression. Beyond genetic inheritance, epigenetic approaches are very important in understanding the effects of environmental and lifestyle factors on an individual's health status. The reversible nature of epigenetic changes creates a promising field in unraveling the mechanisms associated with cancer, metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative disorders and inflammatory processes and in developing individualized medical approaches (Feinberg, 2018). Inflammation is an acute or chronic condition in which the immune system recognizes and eliminates harmful and foreign stimuli and initiates the healing process. Although inflammation is a normal response, it can become prolonged and out of control and damage host tissues either due to a dysregulation in the immune system or when the cause that triggers inflammation is not eliminated. This is defined as chronic (low-level, prolonged) inflammation. Factors such as age, obesity, nutrition, smoking, stress and sleep disorders are among the causes that can lead to chronic inflammation and/or cause its progression (Gkrinia & Belančić, 2025). Chronic inflammatory diseases are recognized as the leading cause of death worldwide. More than 50% of all deaths are caused by inflammationrelated diseases such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions (Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD), 2018). Nutrigenetics is the study of different biological responses to nutrients depending on an individual's genetic makeup. Nutrigenetic studies show how individual genetic variations mediate nutrition, particularly in inflammatory responses and chronic disease risk. For example, polymorphisms in genes associated with inflammation, such as interleukin-6 ---HEALTH & SCIENCE 2025-II--- 312 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), can influence individuals' inflammatory responses to high-fat diets. Omega-3 fatty acids contribute to the suppression of inflammation by modifying gene expression in these individuals (Raqib & Cravioto, 2022). Personalized nutrition approaches to the prevention and management of chronic inflammation become more effective when the genetic and epigenetic profile is taken into account. Nutrigenetics determines who should eat what, while nutrigenomics explains how nutrients act at the genetic level. Through these approaches, individualized dietary strategies that suppress the proinflammatory response can be developed. The microbiota-epigenome-inflammation axis can be better understood. Contribute to the prevention of inflammation-related diseases (obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases) (Meiliana & Widyahusada, 2020). In recent years, studies in the field of epigenetics have revealed that environmental interactions can affect not only the individual but also subsequent generations through intergenerational transmission. In this context, epigenetics offers a holistic approach to understanding the interactions of the individual with its internal and external environment beyond genetic information. It has been shown that nutrients not only provide energy and building blocks, but can also affect gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms. These interactions play a particularly critical role in the regulation of inflammation, contributing to the shaping of chronic inflammatory responses through DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs. Thus, the impact of nutrition on inflammatory processes through epigenetics has become an important area of research in the prevention and management of chronic diseases. The aim of this chapter is to examine the effects of epigenetic mechanisms on chronic inflammation from the perspective of nutritional science; in particular, to evaluate the potential of nutrition-based strategies in the prevention of chronic inflammation-related diseases by revealing how nutrients and bioactive components modulate the inflammatory response through epigenetic pathways such as DNA methylation and histone modifications.