Potential antioxidant response to coffee — A matter of genotype?

In a human intervention study, coffee combining natural green coffee bean constituents and dark roast products was identified as a genotype-dependent inducer of the Nrf2/ARE pathway, significantly affecting Nrf2 gene expression and downstream GST1A1 and UGT1A1 gene transcription. The observed transcriptional changes correlated with the presence of specific Nrf2 genotypes suggesting their influence on both Nrf2 and subsequent ARE-dependent GST1A1 and UGT1A1 transcription. While the presence of the − 653 SNP seems to be advantageous, resulting in higher Nrf2, GST1A1 and UGT1A1 gene transcription following coffee consumption, in contrast, the presence of the − 651 SNP significantly down-regulated the response to the study coffee. Furthermore, the presence of the B/B genotype in GST1A1 along with the frequency of the [TA]6/6 and [TA]7/7 polymorphisms in UGT1A1 appeared to significantly increase sensitivity toward coffee-induced gene transcription. This data suggests that when examining the role of the Nrf2/ARE pathway in the regulation of antioxidative and chemopreventive phase II efficacy, individual genotypes should be included when considering the potency of bioactive food/food constituents and their therapeutic potential.