Rational Gene Targeting with Healthy Dietary Supplements to Clinically Immunosuppress and Treat Down Syndrome

We have considered the novel possibility of treating pathologies whose genetic bases are defined with diet and nutrition. We reason that select healthy dietary nutrients can modulate the expression of disease‐causing genes back toward the normal, attenuating the disease process while lowering treatment cost, toxicity, long‐term risks, and improving compliance. Here, we chose transplantation rejection and Down Syndrome, pathologies caused by excessive IL‐2 production and trisomy 21, respectively. For clinical immuno‐suppression, curcumin, sulforaphane, quercetin and EGCG all significantly inhibited T‐cell proliferation and IL‐2 production in human and mouse T‐cells, suggesting their potential in treating transplant and auto‐immunity patients. These studies have now been extended to in vivo . We also assessed the potential use of dietary supplements in down‐regulating RCAN1 and DYRK1A, two chromosome 21 genes whose trisomic overexpression are thought to be a major contributor to Down Syndrome. We observed that fish oil and curcumin successfully suppressed BALB/c mice hippocampal RCAN1 mRNA and protein expression. These results support our strategy of using healthy dietary supplements to treat genetically‐defined pathologies, an approach that we believe is simple, healthy, and cost‐effective. This research was supported by grants from NIH, the Lejeune Foundation, and the Bender Scientific Fund. Grant Funding Source : NIH, Lejeune Foundation, Bender Scientific Fund