Interplay between early-life malnutrition, epigenetic modulation of the immune function and liver diseases

Early-life nutrition plays a critical role in fetal growth and development. Food intake absence and excess are the two main types of energy malnutrition that predispose to the appearance of diseases in adulthood, according to the hypothesis of 'developmental origins of health and disease'. Epidemiological data have shown an association between early-life malnutrition and the metabolic syndrome in later life. Evidence has also demonstrated that nutrition during this period of life can affect the development of the immune system through epigenetic mechanisms. Thus, epigenetics has an essential role in the complex interplay between environmental factors and genetics. Altogether, this leads to the inflammatory response that is commonly seen in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. In conjunction, DNA methylation, covalent modification of histones and the expression of non-coding RNA are the epigenetic phenomena that affect inflammatory processes in the context of NAFLD. Here, we highlight current understanding of the mechanisms underlying developmental programming of NAFLD linked to epigenetic modulation of the immune system and environmental factors, such as malnutrition.