Nutrigenomics in Dairy Cattle: Causes and Implications
- 1Department of Animal Sciences Wollega University P.O. Box 395 Nekemte Ethiopia wollegauniversity.edu.et
- 2Livestock and Fisheries Agricultural Office Choman Guduru Oromia Ethiopia
Abstract
Nutrigenomics is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary field that investigates the interactions between nutrients and the genome, with particular emphasis on how dietary components regulate gene expression and metabolic pathways. In dairy cattle, nutrigenomics has gained increasing attention due to its potential to improve milk production, metabolic efficiency, health, reproduction, and overall animal performance. Nutrients and bioactive dietary compounds can influence gene activity directly through transcriptional regulation or indirectly through epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modification, and noncoding RNA‐mediated gene regulation. These nutrigenomic interactions affect important biological processes including lipid metabolism, adipogenesis, immune response, mammary gland development, and milk synthesis. Advances in omics technologies including transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and next‐generation sequencing have enhanced understanding of the molecular responses of dairy cows to nutritional interventions. Dietary fatty acids, vitamins, methyl donors, and short‐chain fatty acids such as butyrate have been shown to regulate key transcription factors including peroxisome proliferator–activated receptors (PPARs), sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs), and liver X receptors (LXRs), thereby modulating metabolic and physiological functions. Nutritional interventions, feed restriction, and supplementation produce tissue‐specific molecular responses in the liver, adipose tissue, mammary gland, and immune system, demonstrating interaction between diet, physiological state, and metabolic regulation. Despite these advances, challenges with genetic and physiological variability, tissue‐specific responses, integration of multi‐omics data, and translation of molecular findings into practical feeding strategies remain unresolved. Future integration of nutrigenomics with microbiome research, multi‐omics, artificial intelligence, and precision livestock technologies may facilitate nutritional strategies to improve dairy cattle health, productivity, feed efficiency, and product quality.
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BibTeX
@article{tamasgen2026nutrigenomics,
title = {{Nutrigenomics in Dairy Cattle: Causes and Implications}},
author = {Negasa Tamasgen and Bacha Asefa},
journal = {Veterinary Medicine International},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1155/vmi/3660248},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1155/vmi/3660248},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Nutrigenomics in Dairy Cattle: Causes and Implications
AU - Negasa Tamasgen
AU - Bacha Asefa
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
JO - Veterinary Medicine International
DO - 10.1155/vmi/3660248
UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/vmi/3660248
AB - Nutrigenomics is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary field that investigates the interactions between nutrients and the genome, with particular emphasis on how dietary components regulate gene expression and metabolic pathways. In dairy cattle, nutrigenomics has gained increasing attention due to its potential to improve milk production, metabolic efficiency, health, reproduction, and overall animal performance. Nutrients and bioactive dietary compounds can influence gene activity directly through transcriptional regulation or indirectly through epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modification, and noncoding RNA‐mediated gene regulation. These nutrigenomic interactions affect important biological processes including lipid metabolism, adipogenesis, immune response, mammary gland development, and milk synthesis. Advances in omics technologies including transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and next‐generation sequencing have enhanced understanding of the molecular responses of dairy cows to nutritional interventions. Dietary fatty acids, vitamins, methyl donors, and short‐chain fatty acids such as butyrate have been shown to regulate key transcription factors including peroxisome proliferator–activated receptors (PPARs), sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs), and liver X receptors (LXRs), thereby modulating metabolic and physiological functions. Nutritional interventions, feed restriction, and supplementation produce tissue‐specific molecular responses in the liver, adipose tissue, mammary gland, and immune system, demonstrating interaction between diet, physiological state, and metabolic regulation. Despite these advances, challenges with genetic and physiological variability, tissue‐specific responses, integration of multi‐omics data, and translation of molecular findings into practical feeding strategies remain unresolved. Future integration of nutrigenomics with microbiome research, multi‐omics, artificial intelligence, and precision livestock technologies may facilitate nutritional strategies to improve dairy cattle health, productivity, feed efficiency, and product quality.
SN - 2090-8113
SN - 2042-0048
ER -