Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Over half a billion people live with Type-2 diabetes (T2D) worldwide, placing T2D among the top 10 causes of death and disability. Canada is no exception; the diabetes crisis is growing due to modifiable risk factors like obesity, sedentary behaviours and poor diets being at an all-time high. This surge in T2D is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) diseases such as heart attack and stroke, which pose significant challenges for healthcare systems and economies. Rare vascular regenerative (VR) stem cells coordinate new blood vessel growth. However, high blood sugar during T2D causes excessive blood vessel damage and leads to VR cell exhaustion (VRCE), a condition where VR cells become depleted or dysfunctional, hindering vessel repair. Our lab developed a unique method to quickly count VR cells in blood samples. This test showed that empagliflozin, a new diabetes medication used to lower blood sugar, can partially recover VR cell numbers. We also showed that a surgical procedure, known as 'gastric bypass surgery,' used for weight reduction in people with obesity, could swiftly reverse VRCE. These findings highlight a link between T2D, obesity, and impaired vessel repair, offering new hope for preventing T2D-related CV diseases. Previously, our lab showed that individuals with T2D for over 10 years have VRCE, but it was unclear how early stages of T2D affected not only VRCE but the functions of VR cells altogether. We hypothesize that during T2D, the ability of VR cells to stimulate new blood vessel growth will be impaired. We predict that VR cells in T2D individuals will have a diminished capacity to stimulate blood vessel formation, and newly created VR cells will show reduced production of regenerative proteins that promote blood vessel growth compared to individuals without T2D. Understanding how VRCE impairs vessel repair will help clinicians develop new treatments to improve blood vessel health in people with T2D at high-risk of CV diseases.