Grant: Project Grant

The number of patients with metabolic diseases (diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome) is high and continues to rise in Canada and world-wide. A serious consequence of these chronic diseases is high levels of bad blood fats that cause heart disease and strokes. Improper fat handling in the gut leads to high levels of bad blood fats. We propose to systemically investigate how fats are handled in the gut in health and in metabolic diseases. Manufacturing and transport of fat particles in the gut at the cell, organ and whole-body levels will be studied in rats in health and disease conditions. Fat particle output in the gut will be measured, along with changes in proteins in cell organelles, cells, and tissues. These studies will help identify the control points of fat processing in the gut, understand what goes wrong in disease conditions, and develop novel ways towards treating abnormal blood fats and reducing the risks of heart disease and strokes in a very large population of patients.