Pro and anti-inflammatory diets as strong epigenetic factors in inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is the consequence of a complex interplay between environmental factors, like dietary habits, that alter intestinal microbiota in response to luminal antigens in genetically susceptible individuals. Epigenetics represents an auspicious area for the discovery of how environmental factors influence the pathogenesis of inflammation, prognosis, and response to therapy. Consequently, it relates to gene expression control in response to environmental influences. The increasing number of patients with IBD globally is indicative of the negative effects of a food supply rich in trans and saturated fats, refined sugars, starches and additives, as well as other environmental factors like sedentarism and excess bodyweight, influencing the promotion of gene expression and increasing DNA hypomethylation in IBD. As many genetic variants are now associated with Crohn's disease (CD), new therapeutic strategies targeting modifiable environmental triggers, such as the implementation of an anti-inflammatory diet that involves the removal of potential food antigens, are of growing interest in the current literature. Diet, as a strong epigenetic factor in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disorders like IBD, provides novel insights into the pathophysiology of intestinal and extraintestinal inflammatory disorders.

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease; Epigenetic; Anti-inflammatory diet; Immunogenetics; Microbiome; Polymeric diet; Elemental diet

Core Tip: This editorial highlights the implication of environmental factors, in particular diet, as epigenetic factors in pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The concept of epigenetic factors involved in the genesis of IBD brings new insight into the identified risk factors and future targeted approaches, as a guide to the prevention and treatment of IBD.