Epigenetic markers of diet response for personalized weight loss strategies
Joint Event on 17th International Conference on Nutrition and Fitness & 2nd International Conference on Gastroenterology and Digestive Disorders
May 23-24, 2019 | Vienna, Austria
Lucia Aronica,Christopher Gardner, Robert W Haile,Megan P Hitchins and Karl-Heinz Wagner
University of Vienna, Austria Stanford University, USA
Keynote : J Nutr Hum Health
Abstract:
Background: Although diet is key to successful weight
loss, dietary intervention studies have reported large
variability of weight loss response between subjects,
ranging from highly successful to highly unsuccessful. The
aim of this study was to investigate whether epigenetic
factors may affect individual weight loss responses to diet
interventions.
Objectives: 1) Determine the effect of a healthy low-fat
(HLF) diet vs a healthy low-carbohydrate (HLC) diet on DNA
methylation (DNAm); 2) Assess whether baseline DNAm may
predict individual weight loss response to a diet intervention.
Methods: DNAm was analyzed in peripheral blood
lymphocytes (PBL) samples collected at baseline and 12
months of the DIETFITS randomized clinical trial with 609
obese non-diabetic subjects randomly assigned to a HLF or
a HLC diet (Gardner CD et al., 2018, JAMA). Whole genome
bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) was carried out in a discovery
cohort consisting of the eight “biggest losers” defined as
those who lost the most weight at six months, and who
also sustained their weight-loss up to the 12-month visit.
Results: Weight loss on a HLF diet or a HLC diet is associated
with significant, diet-specific DNAm changes at several
genomic loci including obesity- and diabetes-related genes.
Conclusions: A HLF diet and a HLC diet are associated with
distinct changes in DNAm across the genome. Followup
analyses will assess whether baseline methylation of
some of these genomic loci may be used as a biomarker to
predict weight loss response for personalized weight-loss
strategies.
Acknowledgements: This project has received funding
from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under grant agreement No 701944.
Biography:
Lucia Aronica is a Lecturer in Nutritional Genomics at the Stanford Prevention and Research Center and at Stanford Continuing Studies. She is currently leading the EU project OBEDIA-Mark in collaboration with Stanford University. The focus of her research is investigating how diet affects the epigenome, and whether we can use epigenetic biomarkers to design personalized weight loss plans. She also serves as an advisor for companies active in the personal genomics and precision health field. She received PhD from the University of Vienna, and has research experience from the University of Oxford, University of Southern California, and University Federico II of Naples. She has published research papers in top-ranked peer reviewed journals such as Cell, Genes and Development, and the EMBO Journal.
E-mail: laronica@stanford.edu
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