Grant: CIHR New Investigator

It is now estimated that a North American child stands a 1 in 3 chance of becoming diabetic. This staggering figure has an enormous cost, both for the general population that must cover diabetes related health care costs (15.6 billion per year in Canada) and for the individual that will likely suffer complications such as blindness, heart failure, impaired cognition and stroke. At the present time, very little is known about how diabetes affects the brain, perhaps owing to the fact that diabetes has long been thought of as a disease that targets the heart, kidney and peripheral nerve networks. The goals of the current research proposal will be threefold. First, new imaging technologies will be used to visualize how diabetes (using an experimental model of type I diabetes in mice) alters the brain's circulatory system and its functional consequences. Understanding how diabetes affects the brain will generate new insights into why diabetics are at greater risk for cognitive impairments and stroke. Second, the present research proposal will determine how the diabetic brain reacts to, and adapts to stroke (ie. forms new vascular and neuronal circuits). This aim will help determine why the prognosis for successful stroke recovery in diabetics is, at the present time, relatively dismal. A final goal will be to explore the possibility that enhancing angiogenic signaling pathways through the administration of statins will reduce stroke damage and promote brain plasticity that is essential for stroke recovery. Ultimately, the proposed project will generate new information regarding the effects of diabetes on the brain, which will stimulate new treatment options for those Canadians suffering from diabetes related sequeleae.