Gene-Environment Interaction in Origins of Chronic Non-Communicable Disease



Kelishadi R¹ ; Poursafa P²
Source: Gene-Environment Interactions and Human Diseases Published:2016

Abstract

This chapter is a broad review on epigenetic factors related to the developmental origins of health and disease from early life to adulthood. The additive effects of changes in the environment in combination with genetic susceptibility may contribute to many chronic diseases in adulthood. This chapter presents a summary of the impacts of various factors such as epigenetics and gene-environment interaction in predisposition to non-communicable disease. In addition to genetic predisposition, maternal or paternal exposure to environmental pollutants, and in turn their role in fetal growth and fetal programming of chronic disease, intrauterine growth, and post-natal trajectory of growth are presented. The complex contributions of genes, the environment, and gene-gene and gene-environment interactions to development of adult disease are discussed. © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.