Biomarkers of Nutrient Bioactivity and Efficacy

Abstract

Personalized nutrition has been traditionally based on the adjustment of food and diet according to individual needs and preferences. At present, this concept is being reinforced through the application of state-of-the-art high-throughput technologies to help understand the molecular mechanisms underlying a healthy state. This knowledge could enable the adjustment of general dietary recommendations to match the needs of specific population groups based on their molecular profiles. The optimal development of evidence-based nutritional guidance to promote health requires an adequate assessment of nutrient bioavailability, bioactivity, and bioefficacy. To achieve this, reliable information about exposure to nutrients, their intake, and functional effects is required; thus, the identification of valid biomarkers using standardized analytical procedures is necessary. Although some nutritional biomarkers are now successfully used (eg, serum retinol, zinc, ferritin, and folate), a comprehensive set to assess the nutritional status and metabolic conditions of nutritional relevance is not yet available. Also, there is very limited knowledge on how the extensive human genetic variability influences the interpretation of these biomarkers. In this context, nutrigenomics seems to be a promising approach to identify new biomarkers in nutrition, through an integrative application of transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenomics, and nutrigenetics in human nutritional research.

Personalized weight loss strategies—the role of macronutrient distribution

“…109,110 In this context, genetic biomarkers derived from genomic studies could potentially be used for diagnosis, prediction of prognosis, treatment decision-making, and follow-up of patients receiving nutritional interventions. 111,112 However, whether personalized nutrition based on genomic data will have the dramatic impact on health that researchers once predicted remains unclear.…”

Guide and Position of the International Society of Nutrigenetics/Nutrigenomics on Personalized Nutrition: Part 2 - Ethics, Challenges and Endeavors of Precision Nutrition

“…In order to offer individual dietary prescriptions, it is necessary to analyze the molecular mechanisms and systems interacting in human health [13]. Uses of molecular biology technologies include detection of SNPs and identification of candidate genes and polymorphisms putatively involved in gene-nutrient interactions, both of which may dictate dietary recommendations based on genotype [14].…”

An Emerging Role for Metabolomics in Nutrition Science

“…Metabolomics tools are now being applied to the analysis of food components, the identification of their metabolites in body fluids and biological tissues, the evaluation of their bioavailability and metabolism, the role of gut microflora, and the physiological response to a particular diet regimen, food, or nutraceutical (Box 1) [12,13,14,15,16,17]. Many reports referenced throughout this review provide the proof-of-principle that metabolomics is set to be a key tool for nutrition research.…”

“…The collection of all food components, both natural and non-natural, is often referred to as the food metabolome. The ultimate knowledge of the food metabolomes could provide a piece of critical information for the study of complex interactions between nutrition and health [12,13,14,15,16]. …”