N12014 : Faecal methylation, gene expression and disease outcome in people consuming fish (FishMet)
Tuesday 5 September 2006
This research project aims to assess the impact of fish consumption on bowel health and to develop novel biomarkers of risk, which are amenable to dietary intervention.
Background
This project builds on the FSA (N12012) / EU FP6 Seafood Plus funded project entitled Fishgastro.
- FishMet aims to assess the impact of fish consumption on bowel health and the development of novel biomarkers of risk, which are amenable to dietary intervention.
- Changes in the methylation of CpG islands may affect transcription of genes involved in the cancer process.
- This team have previously developed methods (assays) to test for CpG island methylation in DNA extracted from exfoliated cells in faeces. This biomarker may help detect defects in the bowel which may predispose to cancer.
- To test using subjects from the Fishgastro intervention trial (N12012) whether CpG island methylation can be modified by n3 fatty acids and selenium from fish.
Research Approach
Using samples from the Fishgastro human intervention study on fish consumption and bowel cancer, this study is comparing CpG island methylation in faecal DNA with gene expression, investigating CpG island in genes associate with disease and assessing whether dietary intervention with fish can modify DNA methylation.
This project aims to assess the validity of using the faecal CpG island DNA methylation assays in relation to gene expression in colon tissue and longer term health outcomes.