Abstract
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a global healthcare burden since it is epidemiologically related to obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D) and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). It embraces a wide spectrum of hepatic injuries, which include simple steatosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The susceptibility to develop NAFLD is highly variable and it is influenced by several cues including environmental (i.e., dietary habits and physical activity) and inherited (i.e., genetic/epigenetic) risk factors. Nonetheless, even intestinal microbiota and its by-products play a crucial role in NAFLD pathophysiology. The interaction of dietary exposure with the genome is referred to as ‘nutritional genomics,’ which encompasses both ‘nutrigenetics’ and ‘nutriepigenomics.’ It is focused on revealing the biological mechanisms that entail both the acute and persistent genome-nutrient interactions that influence health and it may represent a promising field of study to improve both clinical and health nutrition practices. Thus, the premise of this review is to discuss the relevance of personalized nutritional advices as a novel therapeutic approach in NAFLD tailored management.
Highlights
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the most frequent cause of liver disorders worldwide, affecting more than one third of the general population [1]
NAFLD is defined by hepatic fat accumulation that exceeds 5% of liver weight, in absence of alcohol abuse, and it entails a broad spectrum of conditions, spanning from simple and uncomplicated steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is characterized by hepatocyte ballooning, lobular inflammation and fibrosis that could worsen into cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [2,3]
NAFLD is epidemiologically associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and metabolic syndrome (MetS) features [4] and its pathogenesis is closely entangled with increased adiposity, insulin resistance (IR) and dyslipidemia [5]
Summary
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the most frequent cause of liver disorders worldwide, affecting more than one third of the general population [1]. Epigenetics encompasses a wide number of events such as alterations of DNA nucleotides (i.e., methylation of CpG dinucleotides, known as CpG islands), modifications of histones and regulation of transcription by altering mRNA stability through small RNA molecules such as microRNAs (miRNAs) It may provide a new perspective in NAFLD pathogenesis, diagnosis and management [9]. Nutritional genomics may represent a promising field of study to improve both clinical and health nutrition practices, establishing genome-based dietary guidelines for disease prevention, individualized nutrition therapy for disease management and targeted public health nutrition interventions [13] It is focused on revealing the biological mechanisms that entail both the acute and persistent genome-nutrient interactions that influence health [13]. The discovery of possible nutrigenomic approaches may contribute to explain how dietary habits differently impact on health depending on the individual’s genetic makeup
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