Grant: Project Grant

Recently, treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have greatly improved with the innovation of therapies that are based on the structure of gut-derived hormones called glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) and glucagon-like-peptide 1 (GLP-1) (i.e. Ozempic and Mountjaro) that significantly lower body weight, blood sugar and fat levels. However, after weight loss and blood sugars are within healthy ranges, it is unknown if patients are required to remain on medications for life. We know that stopping these therapies can contribute to immediate weight gain and can result in more than 60% of weight regain within 1 year. We plan to investigate strategies to help to reduce the rise in blood sugar and fat levels during weight regain after disuse of these therapies. Fat tissues are significant for regulating blood sugar and lipid levels therefore, we hypothesize that after GLP-1 and GIP-based treatments that metabolic impairments will be due to dysfunctional fat tissues. We plan to study the role of fat tissues in regulating metabolic control during weight regain. There is an important need to lessen the risk of high blood sugar levels due to weight regain and one strategy could be through changes in specific dietary consumption. Research shows that adhering to a plant-based diets that are high in unsaturated fats provide protective effects to fat tissue and blood sugar control. However, we do not know if dietary intervention is an effective method to protect against the rise in blood sugar during weight regain. We hypothesize that eating a plant-based fat diet reduces the burden on fat tissues and helps to maintain blood sugar. We plan to study the effects on blood sugar control during weight regain in obese and T2DM male and female mice. This will work inform the patient population about diets that may provide lower risk in the reversal of metabolic control during weight regain after the stoppage of GLP-1- and GIP-based medications.