Title : Nutrition and proteomics: The need for N-of-1 experimental strategies
Abstract:
The predominant experimental paradigms of the past century and a half relied on two theoretical and methodological frameworks: the first was codified in Fisher’s The Design of Experiments (1935) that among other recommendations assigned individuals to random groups or treatments. Comparing outcomes or responses between these groups yields “risk factors” called population attributable risks (PAR), which are statistical estimates of the percentage reduction in disease if the risk were avoided or in the case of genetic associations, if the gene variant were not present in the population. The second framework is best exemplified by Beadle and Tatum (PNAS 27, 499
[1941]) who showed that Neurospora auxotroph’s could be rescued by a single nutrient – an example of reductionism that pervades experimental designs to this day. These frameworks were the foundational approaches that resulted in significant scientific advances. However, these approaches do not address interindividual variability produced by complex interactions between genetic makeup and multiple environmental factors. Our group demonstrated interindividual variations in plasma metabolite and plasma protein changes in response to a defined nutritional intervention conducted in two successive years in the same population in Brazil. A growing number of groups are using proteomic approaches to study individual responses to different diets or nutritional genomics, which will be reviewed in this presentation.
