ReviewNutrients2026
Cross-Cultural Nutritional Epigenomics: Diet and Microbiome Interactions Shaping Type 2 Diabetes in Arab and Western Populations.
Review in Nutrients, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is 17-18%, substantially higher than the ~9-10% reported in Western populations, with some Gulf states approaching 25% in adults. Historically, Arab diets, characterized by high fiber intake from whole grains, legumes, and fermented dairy products, have contrasted markedly with the Western dietary pattern increasingly prevalent among urbanized Arab populations. These nutritional shifts have been associated with changes in gut microbial composition, including lower representation of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria and higher abundance of dysbiosis-associated taxa. Concurrently, diet-derived compounds and microbial metabolites have been associated with changes in DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA expression. Epigenome-wide association studies revealed both shared and population-specific methylation signatures in patients with T2D. However, integrated multi-omics studies remain limited in Arab populations, where the disease burden is highest. This review integrates emerging evidence on diet-linked epigenetic alterations, microbiome-associated metabolic pathways, and their intersection in potentially contributing to T2D risk and progression. Given the heterogeneity of T2D across populations, there is a pressing need for culturally contextualized precision medicine frameworks that integrate population-specific diet-microbiome-epigenome dynamics rather than extrapolating findings across populations. Additionally, this review synthesizes evidence that dietary patterns are associated with T2D-relevant pathways through the diet-microbiome-epigenome axis, with emphasis on Arab/MENA populations and Western comparator cohorts.
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