Genes can affect our nutrient tolerance

Date:
April 19, 2022
Source:
University of Helsinki
Summary:
A new study finds that minor genetic differences can affect the
ability to utilize the energy of various nutrients. This work shows
how nutritional planning based on genetic data could promote the
development of personalized nutrition for health.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are essential nutrients to all
animals. Yet dietary variation between species, populations and
individuals can vary dramatically.


==========================================================================
In an international collaborative study, researchers from Australia,
Denmark and Finland investigated how individuals of a same population
differ in their ability to survive on various diets.

The researchers utilised a genetic reference panel consisting of roughly
200 closely related fruit fly strains (Drosophila melanogaster). The flies
were fed six different diets containing high concentrations respectively
of protein, sugar, starch, coconut oil or lard, or a combination of
sugar and lard. The strains used in the study have had their genomes
fully mapped, which made it possible to link the differences seen in
the experiments to specific genetic variation.

The study found that small genetic differences affected the flies'
ability to use the energy of various nutrients.

"Unexpectedly we found that the fruit fly strains differed considerably,
for example, in their ability to survive on a high-sugar diet. What
makes this particularly surprising is the fact that the food consumed
by fruit flies in nature contains a lot of sugars," says Essi Havula,
now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki and the lead
author of the study.

"The genes that regulate metabolism have been conserved well in evolution, which is why we can learn a lot about human metabolism through studies
carried out with fruit flies," Havula adds.



========================================================================== Genetic analyses uncover several genes that affect nutrient tolerance
In genetic analyses, the researchers identified a number of genes that contributed to the ability of flies to tolerate sugar. Most of these genes
are found also in humans and have been suggested in previous genome-wide association studies to play a role in obesity and type 2 diabetes.

"Fly studies enable fast and cost-effective functional studies to
investigate the genes in depth. Among other things, we demonstrated
that the tailless gene (TLX), previously investigated primarily from
the perspective of the function and development of the nervous system,
is necessary for the normal function of sugar metabolism in flies,"
Havula says.

In addition, the researchers demonstrated that the JNK pathway, one of
the most important stress-signalling pathways, regulated sugar metabolism
and storage- fat synthesis in the case of high-sugar diets in the study.

"It appears that dietary sugar causes stress to the cells, giving the
JNK pathway an important role in how effectively flies tolerate and
process sugar," Havula says.



==========================================================================
Can nutrigenomics assist the development of personalised nutrition?
According to the researchers, most of the findings can be applied to
humans as well, even though further research is still needed. Havula
points out that the study provides concrete evidence on how the same
dietary recommendations do not necessarily suit everyone.

"Research-based knowledge increasingly shows how metabolic responses to
diets differ between animal populations and individuals. Traditional
dietary recommendations are not necessarily suited to everyone,
which explains the continued lack of consensus on a 'healthy diet'."
One option is to develop nutrition in a more personalised direction with
the help of nutrigenomics.

"Hopefully, in the future type 2 diabetes and many other metabolic
diseases can be treated with nutritional planning based on knowledge of individual genomes.

This would be considerably less expensive than drug therapies as well
as better for the health of individuals in the long run," says Havula.

The potential of nutrigenomics is not limited to the treatment of
traditional metabolic diseases.

"For example, cancer cells are known to alter their metabolism, extending
the potential of nutrigenomics to a wide range of fields," Havula adds.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Helsinki. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. E. Havula, S. Ghazanfar, N. Lamichane, D. Francis, K. Hasygar,
Y. Liu, L.

A. Alton, J. Johnstone, E. J. Needham, T. Pulpitel, T. Clark, H. N.

Niranjan, V. Shang, V. Tong, N. Jiwnani, G. Audia, A. N. Alves,
L. Sylow, C. Mirth, G. G. Neely, J. Yang, V. Hietakangas,
S. J. Simpson, A. M.

Senior. Genetic variation of macronutrient tolerance in
Drosophila melanogaster. Nature Communications, 2022; 13 (1) DOI:
10.1038/s41467- 022-29183-x ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220419103233.htm

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