NG: Glossary and Abbreviations (2019)
Nutritional Genomics
Glossary
Allele1: An allele is a variant form of a gene. Humans have two alleles at each genetic location, one from each parent. Each pair of alleles represents the genotype of a specific gene.
Gene1: A region of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) coding either for the messenger RNA encoding the amino acid sequence in a polypeptide chain or for a functional RNA molecule.
Genotype1: In a broad sense, the term "genotype" refers to the genetic makeup of an organism; in other words, it describes an organism's complete set of genes. In a more narrow sense, the term can be used to refer to the alleles, or variant forms of a gene, that are carried by an organism.
Genetic Counsesling1: Educational process that attempts to help patients and family members deal with all aspects of a genetic condition.
Genetic Counselor: Provides genetic counseling.
Nutritional Genomics2: Concentrates on the effect our genes have on our risk of disease and dysfunction that can be mitigates by nutritional intervention, as well as the impact our food, nutrition, stress, and toxins have on the expression of our genes. It is the umbrella term that includes nutrigenetics, nutrigenoics, and nutritional epigenomics.
Nutrigenetics2: Focuses on the impact the changes in our genes (also referred to as polymorphisms) have on our potential health path, which is strongly influenced by food, nutrition, stress, and toxins.
Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)1: Variatio at a single position in a DNA sequence among individuals. Recall that the DNA sequence is formed from a chain of four nucleotide bases: A, C, G, and T. If more than 1% of a population does not carry the same nucleotide at a specific positioin in the DNA sequence, then this variation can be classified as a SNP. If a SNP occurs within a gene, then the gene is described as having more than one allele. In these cases, SNPs may lead to variations in the amino acid sequence. SNPs, however, are not just associated with genes; they can also occur in concoding regions of DNA.
1Scitable by Nature Education. Available at https://www.nature.com/scitable/topics. Accessed August 1, 2019.
2Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine, Academy of Nutriiton and Dietetics. Nutritional Genoics What You Need to Know. Available at https://integrativerd.org/nutritional-genomics/. Accessed August , 2019.
Abbreviations
| Abbreviation | Term |
|---|---|
| AD | Alzheimer's disease |
| ALA | Alpha-linolenic acid |
| ALT/AST | Alanine aniotransferase/aspartate aminotransferase |
| BMI | Body Mass Index |
| CAD | Coronary artery disease |
| CHD | Coronary heart disease |
| CLIA-certified | Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified |
| CI | Confidence interval |
| DHA | Docosahexaenoic acid |
| DM | Diabetes Mellitus |
| EPA | Eicosapentaenoic acid |
| GRS | Genetic risk score |
| HEI | Healthy Eating Index |
| HDL | High density lipoprotein |
| LDL | Low density lipoprotein |
| MD | Mean difference |
| MD score | Mediterranean Diet score |
| MI | Myocardial infarction |
| MUFA | Monounsaturated fatty acid |
| N= | Sample size |
| NAFLD | Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease |
| NIOR | Nutrient-induced insulin output ratio |
| NR | Not reported |
| NS | Not significant |
| PUFA | Polyunsaturated fatty acid |
| RCT | Randomized Controlled Trial |
| SMD | Standaridized mean difference |
| SD | Standard deviation |
| SFA | Saturated fatty acid |
| SNP | Single Nucleotide Polymorphism |
| T2DM | Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus |
| TC | Total cholesterol |