Effets à long terme de la nutrition et de l'environnement précoces sur la physiologie intestinale

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis has recently stimulated research on long-term effects of early nutrition and environment. Paradoxically, the intestines have received attention on this matter only recently. Experimental evidence has been published showing that nutritional factors, including energy, fat and fatty acids, protein and micronutrients impact various facets of gut function. These changes include alterations in intestinal digestive, absorptive, secretory, barrier and defence functions, often in a way potentially detrimental to the host. Among environmental factors, early stress, chemical pollutants and gut microbiota disturbances have long-term influence on intestines. Some underlying molecular mechanisms have been elucidated but experimental evidence for the involvement of epigenetic modifications in such long-term changes has just started to emerge. Finally, interactions between the microbiota and the host are being considered pivotal in the early programming of gut functions.