Javier Cahuana-Berrocal, Guillermo Donado-Gamez, Lina Barroso-Martínez, Natalia González-Redondo, Ismael Lizarazu-Diazgranados and Jesús Iglesias-Acosta*
Introduction: Epigenetic processes are chemical reactions that modify the DNA without making any alteration of the sequence already stablished. DNA methylation and histone modification are the better studied epi-tags, which affect the function of one or several genes for good or for bad and produce a highly heritable phenotype as a product. Obesity, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases, are diseases where environment and lifestyle influences the epigenetic mechanisms in order for the disease to appear or to not.
Objective: Review the contents in the literature on epigenetics, its concepts on molecular basis and its implication in pathophysiology, with emphasis on chronic non transmissible diseases such as diabetes mellitus, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Results: It was evidenced that the appearance or repression of these diseases occurred because of epigenetic mechanisms.
Conclusion: Various environmental and nutritional factors influence the appearance of diabetes mellitus, obesity and cardiovascular diseases in the patient and their offspring.
