Impact of obesity and overweight on DNA stability: Few facts and many hypotheses

Publication date: Available online 11 July 2018Source: Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation ResearchAuthor(s): Tahereh Setayesh, Armen Nersesyan, Miroslav Mišík, Franziska Ferk, Sabine Langie, Vanessa M. Andrade, Alexander Haslberger, Siegfried KnasmüllerAbstractHealth authorities are alarmed worldwide about the increase of obesity and overweight in the last decades which lead to adverse health effects including inflammation, cancer, accelerated aging and infertility. We evaluated the state of knowledge concerning the impact of elevated body mass on genomic instability. Results of investigations with humans (39 studies) in which DNA damage was monitored in lymphocytes and sperm cells, are conflicting and probably as a consequence of heterogeneous study designs and confounding factors (e.g. uncontrolled intake of vitamins and minerals and consumption of different food types). Results of animal studies with defined diets (23 studies) are more consistent and show that excess body fat causes DNA damage in multiple organs including brain, liver, colon and testes. Different molecular mechanisms may cause genetic instability in overweight/obese individuals. ROS formation and lipid peroxidation were found in several investigations and may be caused by increased insulin, fatty acid and glucose levels or indirectly via inflammation. Also reduced DNA repair and formation of advanced glycation end products may play a role but more data are required to draw firm conclusions. Reduction...
Source: Mutation Research Reviews in Mutation Research - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research