Nutriepigenomics and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: potential role of dietary and epigenetics factors in disease development and management

Abstract

Over recent decades, a number of studies have revealed the possible role of different types of diets, as well as the nutritional elements they are made up of, in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To date, dietary factors have been identified to play a role in the prevention of COPD, with evidence from antioxidant nutrients, vitamins, and fiber intake. Additionally, certain dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet, together with other Western diets, provide evidence of the influence on COPD development, promoting lung health through nutritional approaches, and giving us an opportunity for intervention. The effect of diet on COPD is conveyed by 3 mechanisms: regulation of inflammation, oxidative stress, and carbon dioxide produced/oxygen intake. Current advances have begun to highlight the possible role of diet in modifying gene expression in certain individuals that predisposes them to COPD through epigenetic modifications. The relation between dietary intake and epigenetic factors has therefore outlined nutriepigenomics as a possible missing link in the relation between environmental exposure to smoke and the appearance of a subsequent chronic bronchial obstruction. This review summarizes the evidence regarding the influence of dietary patterns and nutrients and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms on COPD development and prevention with the aim of encouraging clinical research on the impact of dietary modifications on COPD-related clinical outcomes. This review highlights the importance of proposing and carrying out future studies focused on the modulating effects of certain nutrients on epigenetic changes in patients with specific COPD phenotypes (bronchiectasis, emphysema, asthma/COPD, chronic bronchitis), and their individual responses to cigarette smoking, environmental pollution, or other noxious particles. The objectives of these future studies must be directed to the development of novel therapeutic approaches and personalized management of COPD.