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- Program
ENERGY
Education, Nutrition, Exercise and Recreation
for Growing Youth
Obesity and type 2 diabetes prevention through science
enrichment in elementary schools.
- Premature
birth and docosahexaenoic acid enriched functional
foods:
The Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
at Colorado State University has received a 1.2 million
$ grant from the US Department of Agriculture to study
the effect of essential fatty acids in the diet on
premature delivery. In collaboration with Denver Health
Hospital, this project will examine how diet fatty
acids affect premature delivery in 1200 pregnant women
in the Denver area over a four year period. Pregnant
women who enroll in this study will be given a nutritional
bar containing various amounts of the nutritionally
important fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
The nutritional bar is being provided by OmegaTech,
Boulder Colorado, a company which is a leader in developing
foods and food products with increased DHA content.
The study will determine what level of DHA is needed
to prevent premature delivery and how DHA affects
prostaglandin hormones that are important in pregnancy
and delivery. Premature delivery occurs in about 300,000
births annually in the US and accounts for several
billion dollars in health care costs. Premature delivery
is an especially important problem in Colorado which
has one of the highest rates in the US, and preventing
premature delivery will improve infant weight at birth,
and reduce the serious health problems of the premature
baby by increasing pregnancy duration.
- Obesity
and Hepatic Steatosis:
Steatosis, is the earliest and most prevalent stage
of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Although steatosis
generally has a benign outcome, some individuals develop
progressive liver injury (steatohepatitis or NASH).
A large majority of obese patients have hepatic steatosis
and ~30% have NASH. The specific aim of this project
is to elucidate how saturated fatty acids in the steatotic
liver lead to increased liver cell injury. NIH funded.
- Nutrient
Effects on Insulin Action:
Organisms reprogram metabolic pathways to adapt to
changes in nutrient availability, hormonal milieu
and energy demands. This requires that stimuli are
sensed and highly specific responses engaged. We propose
that in the liver, the mitogen-activated protein kinase,
c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), links excessive nutrient
metabolism with impaired insulin regulation of glucose
production. This aims of this project are to a) determine
the cellular effectors of fructose-induced activation
of JNK and insulin resistance and b) examine the role
and regulation of the JNK signaling module in fructose-induced
insulin resistance. The results from these studies
will provide novel insight into nutrient regulation
of signaling networks within the hepatocyte and to
the etiology of metabolic diseases, such as obesity
and type 2 diabetes, that have environmentally-based
etiologies and are characterized by hepatic insulin
resistance. NIH funded.
- Regulation
of Hepatic Glucose Metabolism by the Endoplasmic Reticulum:
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by impairments in
insulin secretion and insulin action, as well as overproduction
of glucose by the liver. Recent evidence suggests
that endoplasmic reticulum stress can induce impairments
in both insulin secretion and insulin action. The
of this project is to examine the effects of endoplasmic
reticulum stress on hepatic glucose production. NIH
funded.
- Prenatal
Hypoxia and Development of Insulin Resistance:
This is a collaborative project with Dr. Russell Anthony
in the Dept. of Biomedical Sciences who is the principal
investigator. Epidemiological studies provide compelling
evidence for a link between low birth weight and adult
diseases, such as coronary heart disease and type
2 diabetes. This project examines the hypothesis that
prenatal hypoxia alters postnatal metabolism ultimately
resulting in insulin resistance. NIH funded.
- The
Role of Plants in the Treatment of Obesity and Type
2 Diabetes:
This is a collaborative project with Dr. Jorge Vivanco
in the Dept. of Horticulture. The rhizosphere is a
densely populated area in which plant roots must compete
with invading root systems of neighboring plants for
space, water, and mineral nutrients, and with other
soil-borne organisms, including bacteria and fungi.
Root exudates initiate and manipulate biological and
physical interactions between roots and soil organisms,
and thus play an active role in root-root and root-microbe
communication. The aim of this project is to determine
whether compounds in root exudates can influence fat
accumulation and/or insulin action in liver, skeletal
muscle and/or adipose tissue. USDA and NIH funded
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