Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a multifactorial neurodevelopmental condition often accompanied by metabolic and nutritional imbalances. Conventional dietary interventions, such as the gluten-free, casein-free diet, typically fail to consider individual genetic variations. Nutrigenomics, the study of gene-nutrient interactions, offers a promising framework for exploring personalized dietary interventions that may help address the metabolic and neurological complexities associated with ASD, although current evidence remains preliminary. This research note offers recommendations for integrating nutrigenomics into special education through a multidisciplinary approach that combines clinical nutrition, genetics, and educational practice via a 3-phase agenda. Stage 1 focuses on identifying behavioral subgroups within special education settings and using validated tools such as the Child Behavior Checklist Scale to analyze nutritional intake. Stage 2 involves the development and pilot-testing of behavior-specific nutrition protocols that are tailored to these subgroups, incorporating input from practice experts in nutrigenomics. Lastly, in Stage 3, a personalized nutrition model that incorporates genetic screening and metabolic profiling is constructed in collaboration with dietitians, educators, and caregivers. By bridging clinical and educational domains, this study seeks to establish nutrigenomics-based nutrition therapy as a viable and equitable intervention for improving health and developmental outcomes among students with ASD.
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTC-GT) provides a means for consumers to gain insights into their genetic background and how it relates to their health without the involvement of medical institutions. In Korea, DTC-GT was introduced in 2016 in accordance with the legislation on Paragraph (3) 2 of Article 50 of the Bioethics and Safety Act. Only 12 genetic test items involving 46 genes were approved at first, but the approved items were expanded to 70 in November 2020. However, the genetic test items of DTC-GT services in Korea are still restricted to the wellness area, and access to disease risk related information is only permitted to medical institutions. Further, studies revealing the relationship between genotype differences and responses to nutrients, food components, or nutritional status are increasing, and this association appears to be robust for some genes. This strong association between genetic variations and nutrition suggests that DTC-GT can be used as an important tool by clinical nutritionists to gain insights into an individual's genetic susceptibilities and provide guidance on nutritional counseling and meal planning based on the patient's genetic information. This review summarized the history and current status of DTC-GT and investigated the relationship between genetic variations with associated phenotypic traits to clarify further the importance of DTC-GT in the field of clinical nutrition.
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To evaluate the effect of diet on metabolic control and zinc metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). One-week balanced diet was provided to 10 Brazilians patients with T2DM. Nutritional assessment, laboratorial parameters and expression of zinc transporter and inflammatory genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were performed. Healthy non-diabetic subjects of the same demographic were recruited to provide baseline data. Diabetic patients had higher body mass index and greater fasting plasma glucose, plasma tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and plasma interleukin 6 (IL6) levels compared with healthy subjects. In addition, the expression of transporters 4 (ZnT4) mRNA was lower and IL6 mRNA was higher in PBMC of these diabetic patients than in healthy subject. One week after a balanced diet was provided, fasting plasma glucose decreased significantly as did TNFα, IL6 and Metallothionein 1 (MT1) mRNAs. No change was observed in zinc transporter expression in PBMC after the dietary intervention. A healthy eating pattern maintained for one week was able to improve metabolic control of diabetic patients by lowering fasting plasma glucose. This metabolic control may be related to down-regulation of zinc-related transcripts from PBMCs, as TNFα, IL6 and MT1 mRNA.
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