Diabetes

Diabetes has now reached epidemic proportions in this country and it is the leading cause of blindness, end stage renal failure and non traumatic loss of limb. Over ninety percent of diabetics fall into the category of type 2 and while the primary factors causing this disease are unknown it is clear that insulin resistance has a primary role in its development. The primary objective of Dr. Gerald Shulman’s research is to elucidate the molecular mechanism(s) responsible for insulin resistance which occurs in patients with type 2 diabetes in the hope that this will enable the rational development of new therapeutic agents to reverse this pathologic condition as well assist with identification of candidate genes which make individuals prone to this disease. Since liver and muscle are the most important insulin responsive organs we are currently examining alterations in glucose and fat metabolism in these tissues in normal, prediabetic and diabetic subjects as well as genetically altered mouse models of type 2 diabetes using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In addition the laboratory is developing novel NMR methods to non-invasively assess key metabolic functions in vivo such as mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation activity.

Researchers:
Gerald I. Shulman
Kitt F. Petersen
Douglas L. Rothman
Douglas E. Befroy
Sylvie Dufour