Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Diabetes, a disease defined by high blood sugar, affects 463 million people globally. It is well-established that diabetes increases one's risk of developing heart disease, even when blood sugar levels are under control. Given the strong link between diabetes and heart disease, health agencies (e.g. Health Canada) now require that all drugs in development for diabetes undergo immense testing to determine their impact on heart health. Recently, we have identified that a clinically available drug for treating psychoses, pimozide, can improve blood sugar control in diabetic animals. We identified that pimozide improves blood sugar levels by preventing the body's muscle from metabolizing ketone bodies, a fuel source produced by the liver. Although the link between ketone body metabolism and blood sugar control requires further study, pimozide represents an exciting new drug for potentially treating diabetes. However, before pimozide can be approved as a drug for diabetes, it is critical that it is deemed safe for the heart. Therefore, the goal of our research will be to study the effects of pimozide on heart function in order to validate its potential as a new drug for diabetes. Although the exact cause of diabetes-induced heart disease is unknown, there is evidence that the heart of diabetic individuals is unable to produce enough energy to effectively pump blood throughout the body. Specifically, the ability of the heart affected by diabetes to use sugar for energy is reduced. Our previous data suggests that pimozide improves blood sugar control in diabetes by increasing sugar metabolism in the muscle. Interventions that increase heart sugar metabolism improve heart function in animal models of diabetes. Therefore, we hypothesize that pimozide will improve the health of the heart in diabetes. If our hypothesis is correct, our research will identify a new approach for both the improvement of blood sugar control and heart function in individuals with diabetes.