Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Obesity is a complex metabolic disorder with serious health consequences including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases. Obesity is associated with elevated levels of visceral fat accumulation in different tissues and organs like the heart. In obese subjects, the high numbers of accumulated fat cells acts as an inflammatory machinery which contribute to the development of several health risk factors such as insulin resistance and heart diseases. As the incidence and prevalence of obesity continues to increase globally, there has been a parallel increase in the incidence of heart diseases. Therefore, heart related diseases pose a great health challenge of considerable socioeconomic burden. Thus, there is an urgent need to employ alternative strategies that design novel and better therapeutic remedies against obesity and associated heart diseases. Although, an extensive research input has been made, but still there is a need for more focused and cost effective alternative therapeutic approach for the treatment and management of obesity and associated heart complications. To combat this health challenge an important drug that could be explored is hemin. This proposal will study the effects of hemin on proteins which are involved in repairing cardiac tissue as well as proteins which are involved in cardiac regeneration. This study will unveil the novel role of hemin on cardiac regeneration and repair as hemin can be used clinically.