Grant: Operating Grant

Type 2 diabetes (adult onset diabetes) affects between 7 and 10 percent of the Canadian population and is a major cause of mortality and suffering from heart disease, stroke, amputations, blindness, and renal failure. Its prevalence in our country is increasing due to the epidemics of obesity and aging of the Canadian population. We have shown that abnormal blood fat levels after meals may be implicated very early in the natural history of type 2 diabetes. This could lead to increased exposure of organs to dietary fats and contribute to the development of abnormal muscle, liver, and pancreatic function, the principal characteristics of this disease. Over the past years, we have established new investigation tools to study these processes in humans and have characterized the abnormalities of fat metabolism after meals in pre-diabetic individuals (with two parents with type 2 diabetes or with impaired glucose tolerance, who are at very high risk of developing diabetes). We have shown that fat in the diet is preferentially channelled into lean tissues of these individuals. We now want to determine whether this abnormality overwhelms capacity of lean tissues to burn fat and whether it could be reversed with short-term change in diet. The proposed studies may lead to a better understanding of the cause of type 2 diabetes and to more specific targets for prevention and early treatment of this devastating disease.