Dietary protein impact on post-prandial hepatic metabolic fluxes.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) affect millions of people worldwide. When considering dietary strategies to offset T2D, the focus has been mainly to reduce amounts and specific types of fat and carbohydrates, with very little consideration given to protein sources. Earlier studies done by the applicant and colleagues showed that dietary protein composition influences inflammation and insulin resistance in both rodent models of obesity and in overweight people. These studies put forward the concept that dietary proteins modulate features of the metabolic syndrome. Subsequent work exploring the role of dietary proteins in the context of metabolic diseases have mostly focused on the quantity rather than focusing on the composition of protein sources. This is problematic since it is not representative of usual dietary protein intake, which ranges between 15-18% of daily energy intake. Studying metabolic alteration caused by different dietary protein sources is however challenging, due to the complexity of capturing post-prandial changes on metabolism, that are often transitory, but that could underlie long term impact on obesity and insulin resistance. This collaboration will bridge foreign expertise in metabolic fluxes techniques with our home expertise in dietary protein impact on metabolic health.

Faculty Supervisor:

André Marette

Student:

Partner:

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

Université Laval

Program: