Hygiena 2013, 58(2):79-85 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a0969

Health and Behaviour II. Genes, Behaviour and Complex Diseases

Šárka Kunzová1,2, Drahoslava Hrubá1
1 Masarykova univerzita, Lékařská fakulta, Ústav preventivního lékařství, Brno
2 Fakultní nemocnice u sv. Anny v Brně, Mezinárodní centrum klinického výzkumu, Brno

Non-infectious diseases represent a serious health problem in current society. Their etiology is complex as they result from a time-evolving interaction of genetic and environmental factors, a significant part of which are based on individual behaviour and lifestyle. Lifestyle can modify the impact of genetic load; nonetheless, behaviour and lifestyle are themselves determined by genes to a certain extent. Lifelong environmental influences on the genome are largely mediated epigenetically. Epigenetic mechanisms modify the activity of genes and form a base of the phenotype plasticity. Exposure to epigenetic modificators prenatally and in the early post-natal stage form susceptibility to diseases, modifiying manifestation of a genetic predisposition later in life and potentially participating in pathogenesis. Prenatally induced changes of the epigenome can be passed on to subsequent generations of offspring. Nutritional factors and smoking are major inducers of these epigenetic alterations. The most studied epigenetic mechanisms in relation to environmentally induced modification of gene expression are DNA methylation, post-translational histone modifications, and non-coding RNA regulatory activity. The potential reversibility of epigenetic processes opens up new possibilities for the prevention of complex diseases. Knowledge of the interactions of genes, behaviour and environment confirm the validity of primary preventive measures and may contribute to changing attitudes to health.

Keywords: epigenetics, behaviour, lifestyle, civilization-linked diseases - prevention

Received: August 2012; Accepted: October 26, 2012; Published: June 1, 2013  Show citation

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Kunzová Š, Hrubá D. Health and Behaviour II. Genes, Behaviour and Complex Diseases. Hygiena. 2013;58(2):79-85. doi: 10.21101/hygiena.a0969.
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