Abstract
Recent advances in molecular biology combined with the wealth of information generated by the Human Genome Project have fostered the emergence of nutrigenomics, a new discipline in the field of nutritional research. Nutrigenomics may provide the strategies for the development of safe and effective dietary interventions against the obesity epidemic. According to the World Health Organization, more than 60% of the global disease burden will be attributed to chronic disorders associated with obesity by 2020. Meanwhile in the US, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in adults and tripled in children during the past three decades. In this regard, a number of natural dietary supplements and micronutrients have been studied for their potential in weight management. Among these supplements, (–)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a natural extract isolated from the dried fruit rind of Garcinia cambogia, and the micronutrient niacin-bound chromium(III) (NBC) have been shown to be safe and efficacious for weight loss. Utilizing cDNA microarrays, we demonstrated for the first time that HCA-supplementation altered the expression of genes involved in lipolytic and adipogenic pathways in adipocytes from obese women and up-regulated the expression of serotonin receptor gene in the abdominal fat of rats. Similarly, we showed that NBC-supplementation up-regulated the expression of myogenic genes while suppressed the expression of genes that are highly expressed in brown adipose tissue in diabetic obese mice. The potential biological mechanisms underlying the observed beneficial effects of these supplements as elucidated by the state-of-the-art nutrigenomic technologies will be systematically discussed in this review.
Highlights
With the success of the Human Genome Project and the advances in molecular biology, a new discipline, namely nutrigenomics, in the field of nutrition research has emerged [1, 2]. This new wave of molecular nutrition, which unfolds the mystery behind nutrition-gene interactions, may provide the strategies for developing safe and effective nutritherapies for individuals such as those who are under siege by the obesity epidemic [3, 4]
There are a number of natural dietary supplements and trace elements that may be used as a part of nutritional lifestyle intervention for weight management [19]. In this regard, (–)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a natural extract isolated from the dried fruit rind of Garcinia cambogia, and the trace metal chromium(III) have been shown, in animal models and clinical trials, to be safe and efficacious as weight loss supplements [20, 21]
This study investigated the effect of oral niacin-bound chromium(III) (NBC) supplementation on the physiological parameters of obese mice homozygous for Type II diabetes spontaneous mutation (Leprdb), and the alteration in transcriptome of subcutaneous adipose tissues in these obese mice [77]
Summary
With the success of the Human Genome Project and the advances in molecular biology, a new discipline, namely nutrigenomics, in the field of nutrition research has emerged [1, 2]. This new wave of molecular nutrition, which unfolds the mystery behind nutrition-gene interactions, may provide the strategies for developing safe and effective nutritherapies for individuals such as those who are under siege by the obesity epidemic [3, 4]. The number of overweight and obese US adults surpasses that of the normal weight US adults for the first time in history [13, 14]. This chapter will discuss the potential biological mechanisms underlying the observed beneficial effects of these supplements as elucidated by the state-of-the-art nutrigenomic technologies
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