Why Are Omics Technologies Important to Understanding the Role of Nutrition in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases?

Abstract

For many years, there has been confusion about the role that nutrition plays in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). It is apparent that good dietary advice for one individual may prove inappropriate for another. As with many diseases, genome-wide association studies across large collaborative groups have been important in revealing the role of genetics in IBD, with more than 200 genes associated with susceptibility to the disease. These associations provide clues to explain the differences in nutrient requirements among individuals. In addition to genes directly involved in the control of inflammation, a number of the associated genes play roles in modulating the gut microbiota. Cell line models enable the generation of hypotheses as to how various bioactive dietary components might be especially beneficial for certain genetic groups. Animal models are necessary to mimic aspects of the complex aetiology of IBD, and provide an important link between tissue culture studies and human trials. Once we are sufficiently confident of our hypotheses, we can then take modified diets to an IBD population that is stratified according to genotype. Studies in IBD patients fed a Mediterranean-style diet have been important in validating our hypotheses and as a proof-of-principle for the application of these sensitive omics technologies to aiding in the control of IBD symptoms.

Drosophila melanogaster as an alternative model organism in nutrigenomics

“…Recently, these analyses have been based on the RNAseq technology, defined as transcriptome profiling using NGS. It is stated that this methodology offers-compared to microarrays-the advantage of the detection of lower abundant and wider ranges of transcripts [54]. By comparing the intake of two different obesogenic diets, RNAseq analysis from Drosophila heads revealed significant differences in the transcriptome.…”

“…The proteome is defined as the protein complement that is present in a cell, an organ, or an organism at a given time [54,77]. As proteins present the functional part of genes and the mRNA information, the proteome accounts for the organism's phenotype [77].…”

“…Metabolomics is referred to a systematic study of detectable small molecules deriving from specific cellular processes in an organism [54]. Metabolomics studies could provide information on the effects of dietary compounds, and their health consequences, on an organism's metabolism.…”

Systems biology in inflammatory bowel diseases: on the way to precision medicine

“…Metabolomic studies are usually performed in noninvasive samples, such as blood, urine, stool and swabs, and the resulting metabolic profile is the outcome of at least 3 different sources; dietary compounds, xenobiotics from the environment, and metabolic products of the microflora. Therefore, metabolomics studies in IBD usually examine the metabolic relationship between the host and the gut microflora and the factors that may influence this relationship [133].…”

“…The 2 most common technologies used in the field of metabolomics are MS, analyzed in the previous section (Proteomics), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)spectroscopy [133]. NMR is a widely used technique in chemistry that provides information about the molecular structure of the examined compounds and their absolute or relative concentration in the sample.…”