The Concept of Genetotrophic Disease

Williams, RogerJ; Beerstecher, Ernest; Berry, Lisa

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(50)91997-0

Cited by 36 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…This concept based upon results in genetics and biochemistry is new in medical thought and is believed to be the basis for many diseases, the causation of which is now obscure. Individual patients are far from standardised specimens and medical problems should consistently be considered in terms of the genetically diverse patients, rather than in terms of an absolute normal' (3) . The first real engagement of nutrition research with a common genetic polymorphism occurred in 1977, when the effect of a common polymorphism of apoE on disorders of lipid metabolism in man was published (4) .…”

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confidence: 99%

The future direction of personalised nutrition: my diet, my phenotype, my genes

Gibney

Walsh

2013

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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Although personalised nutrition is frequently considered in the context of diet-gene interactions, increasingly, personalised nutrition is seen to exist at three levels. The first is personalised dietary advice using Internet-delivered services, which ultimately will become automated and which will also draw on mobile phone technology. The second level of personalised dietary advice will include phenotypic information on anthropometry, physical activity, clinical parameters and biochemical markers of nutritional status. It remains possible that in addition to personalised dietary advice based on phenotypic data, advice at that group or metabotype level may be offered where metabotypes are defined by a common metabolic profile. The third level of personalised nutrition will involve the use of genomic data. While the genomic aspect of personalised nutrition is often considered as its main driver, there are significant challenges to translation of data on SNP and diet into personalised advice. The majority of the published data on SNP and diet emanate from observational studies and as such do not offer any cause-effect associations. To achieve this, purpose-designed dietary intervention studies will be needed with subjects recruited according to their genotype.

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confidence: 99%

The future direction of personalised nutrition: my diet, my phenotype, my genes

Gibney

Walsh

2013

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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“…About 30 years ago Williams and coworkers (1,2) formulated the concept ofgenetotrophic disease. A genetotrophic disease is one in which, because of his genetic nature, the afflicted person requires an augmented supply of one or more specific nutrients and in which fulfilling these needs prevents or at least ameliorates the disease.…”

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Can nutritional supplements help mentally retarded children? an exploratory study.

Harrell¹,

H²,

Davis³

et al. 1981

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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To explore the hypothesis that mental retardations are in part genetotrophic diseases (diseases in which the genetic pattern of the afflicted individual requires an augmented supply ofone or more nutrients such that when these nutrients are adequately supplied the disease is ameliorated), we carried out a partially double-blind experiment with 16 retarded children (initial IQs, -17-70) of school age who were given nutritional supplements or placebos during a period of 8 months. The supplement contained 8 minerals in moderate amounts and 11 vitamins, mostly in relatively large amounts. During the first 4-month period (double-blind) the 5 children who received supplements increased their average IQ by 5.0-9.6, depending on the investigator, whereas the 11 subjects given placebos showed negligible change. The difference between these two groups is statistically significant (P < 0.05). Durin the second period, the subjects who had been given placebos in the first study received supplements; they showed an average IQ increase of at least 10.2, a highly significant gain (P < 0.001). Three of the five subjects who were given supplements for both periods showed additional IQ gains during the second 4 months. Three of four children with Down syndrome gained between 10 and 25 units in IQ and also showed physical changes toward normal. Other evidence suggests that the supplement improved visual acuity in two children and increased growth rates. These results support the hypothesis that mental retardations are in part genetotrophic in origin.About 30 years ago Williams and coworkers (1, 2) formulated the concept ofgenetotrophic disease. A genetotrophic disease is one in which, because of his genetic nature, the afflicted person requires an augmented supply of one or more specific nutrients and in which fulfilling these needs prevents or at least ameliorates the disease.The genetotrophic hypothesis was in mind when G. S., a severely retarded child, was treated by the senior author. When first seen, the patient was 7 years old and in diapers, could not speak, and had an estimated IQ of25-30. At her instigation, his blood and tissues were analyzed in the laboratories of Mary B.Allen, a biochemist in Richmond, VA. With the cooperation of a physician, Allen devised a nutritional supplement and G. S. 's parents agreed to administer it. There were no noticeable results for several weeks, but after some constituents of the supplement were increased G. S. suddenly began to improve. In a few days he was talking a little; in a few weeks he was learning to read and write, and he began to act like a normal child. When G. S. was 9 years old he read and wrote on the elementary school level, was moderately advanced in arithmetic, and, according to his teacher, was mischievous and active. He rode a bicycle and a skate board, played ball, played a flute, and had an IQ ofabout 90.

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“…1), whereby dietary advice is tailored to an individual, is not new. Potentially, its origins date back to 1950 when a review paper discussed the concept of genetotrophic diseases and their relationship to nutrient intake (1) . This decade also saw the introduction of a controlled diet for successful treatment of phenylketonuria and hence, the beginnings of personalisation based on the identification of inborn errors of metabolism (2) .…”

Section: The Evolution Of Personalised Nutritionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can metabotyping help deliver the promise of personalised nutrition?

et al. 2015

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Over a decade since the completion of the human genome sequence, the promise of personalised nutrition available to all has yet to become a reality. While the definition was originally very gene-focused, in recent years, a model of personalised nutrition has emerged with the incorporation of dietary, phenotypic and genotypic information at various levels. Developing on from the idea of personalised nutrition, the concept of targeted nutrition has evolved which refers to the delivery of tailored dietary advice at a group level rather than at an individual level. Central to this concept is metabotyping or metabolic phenotyping, which is the ability to group similar individuals together based on their metabolic or phenotypic profiles. Applications of the metabotyping concept extend from the nutrition to the medical literature. While there are many examples of the metabotype approach, there is a dearth in the literature with regard to the development of tailored interventions for groups of individuals. This review will first explore the effectiveness of personalised nutrition in motivating behaviour change and secondly, examine potential novel ways for the delivery of personalised advice at a population level through a metabotyping approach. Based on recent findings from our work, we will demonstrate a novel strategy for the delivery of tailored dietary advice at a group level using this concept. In general, there is a strong emerging evidence to support the effectiveness of personalised nutrition; future work should ascertain if targeted nutrition can motivate behaviour change in a similar manner.

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The Concept of Genetotrophic Disease

Cited by 36 publications

References 22 publications

The future direction of personalised nutrition: my diet, my phenotype, my genes

The future direction of personalised nutrition: my diet, my phenotype, my genes

Can nutritional supplements help mentally retarded children? an exploratory study.

Can metabotyping help deliver the promise of personalised nutrition?

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