Germ cells carry the epigenetic benefits of grandmother's diet

Transgenerational effects of childhood conditions on third generation health and education outcomes

“…11 Most Germans had to live on a meagre diet of dark bread, slices of sausage without fat, three points of potatoes per week and turnips (Vincent,8 So, effects along the female line could also be driven by maternal nutrition during SGP. Indeed, mice models indicate that epigenetic imprinting may take place along the female germline (Cooney, 2006).…”

Autoimmunity

“…The effect on airway hypersensitivity persists through multiple generations, although the degree of changes gets smaller with successive generations. A similar methyl-donor diet has previously been shown to affect the coat color of the viable yellow A vy/a mice by methylating the intracisternal A particle (IAP) retrotransposon inserted upstream of the agouti gene (Cooney et al, 2002;Cooney, 2006). However, the asthma study is notable for showing that the effect of the dietary approach is not limited to unusual retroviral insertion, and suggests for the first time that methylation-based diets are relevant to late-life immune-mediated diseases.…”

Phytochemicals and Cancer Chemoprevention: Epigenetic Friends or Foe?

“…Similarly, there is increasing evidence in animals that nutritional intervention (caloric, iron and protein restriction, polyphenol-, folate-, micronutrient-, fat-or carbohydrate-rich diet) and maternal diabetes occurring during pregnancy and the lactation period, affects health in following generation(s) (Dolinoy & Jirtle, 2008;Jirtle & Skinner, 2007;Kirk et al, 2008;Waterland, 2009;Waterland & Jirtle, 2004;Waterland et al, 2008;Youngson & Whitelaw, 2008). The various non-Mendelian features of metabolic disease, cancer or chronic inflammatory disorders, clinical differences between men and women or monozygotic twins and fluctuations in the course of the disease are consistent with epigenetic mechanisms in the influence of fetal and/or lifelong nutrition or stochastic events on adult phenotype (Aguilera et al, 2010;Bell & Spector, 2011;Cooney, 2006;Gallou-Kabani et al, 2007;Godfrey et al, 2010;Kaminsky et al, 2009;Petronis, 2006;Weaver, 2009;Youngson & Whitelaw, 2008). Thus, lifetime shapes the multitude of epigenomes not only within, but also across generations (Anway & Skinner, 2006;Chong et al, 2007;Godfrey et al, 2010;Hochberg et al, 2011;Skinner et al, 2011;Youngson & Whitelaw, 2008).…”

“…Human epidemiological studies and appropriately designed dietary interventions in animal models have provided considerable evidence to suggest that maternal nutritional imbalance and metabolic disturbances, during critical time windows of development, may have a persistent effect on the health of offspring and may even be transmitted to the next generation (Aguilera et al, 2010;Cooney, 2006;Gallou-Kabani et al, 2007;Godfrey et al, 2010;Weaver, 2009;Youngson & Whitelaw, 2008). This has led to the hypothesis of ''fetal programming'' and new term ''developmental origin of health and disease'' (DOHaD): common disorders, such as cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, hypertension, asthma and even schizophrenia, take root in early nutrition during gestation and continues during lactation (Anway et al, 2005;Anway & Skinner, 2006;Barker & Martyn, 1992;Chmurzynska, 2010;Hochberg et al, 2011;Jackson et al, 2010;Jirtle & Skinner, 2007).…”