Sam El-Osta
Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute
Melbourne, Australia
Title: Implications of Epigenetics in Diabesity Syndrome
Biography
Biography: Sam El-Osta
Abstract
Metabolic memory is the name given to the phenomenon whereby previous exposure to metabolic perturbations has long-lasting patho-physiological effects, well after the event has dissipated. For example, the Diabetes Control Complications Trial (DCCT) and the subsequent Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) study revealed that a period of suboptimal glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes, such as that experienced by those in the conventional arm, continues to be a risk factor for adverse outcomes, when compared to those who were initially intensively treated, despite the fact that glycemic control has subsequently been similar in the two cohorts for over a decade. Recent work following the UKPDS cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes also suggests that the benefits of glucose control can be sustained well beyond the period of the initial trial of intensified treatment. We have shown in animal models of diabetes, that restoring normoglycemia does not reduce atherosclerosis. Indeed, the pro-inflammatory impact of hyperglycemia persists and is similar to that seen in mice with chronic hyperglycemia. Although significant progress has recently been made in elucidating the genetics of T1D, the non-genetic component remains poorly defined. In this lecture we present key preliminary data examining genome-wide DNA methylation of the FinnDiane type 1 diabetes cohort.