Vitamin-related phenotypic adaptation to exposomal factors: The folate-vitamin D-exposome triad

Abstract

The biological role of two key vitamins, folic acid and vitamin D is so fundamental to life processes, it follows that their UV sensitivity, dietary abundance (both key exposomal factors) and variability in dependent genes will modify their functional efficacy, particularly in the context of maintaining the integrity and function of genome and epigenome. This article therefore examines folate and vitamin D-related phenotypic adaptation to environmental factors which vary across the human life cycle as well as over an evolutionary time-scale. Molecular mechanisms, key nutrigenomic factors, phenotypic maladaptation and evolutionary models are discussed.

Keywords: Adaptation; Epigenetics; Evolution; Exposome; Folic acid; Phenome; Vitamin D.