INMD Researcher profile: André Carpentier

Project title

Diety fatty acids and the development of type 2 diabetes

Who

Dr. André C. Carpentier, FRCPC,  is a professor in the Department of Medicine at the  University of Sherbrooke, and a researcher at the Centre de recherche clinique Étienne-Le Bel at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke.

Issue

Dr. Carpentier is studying how dietary fatty acids used by various organs of the human body in prediabetic patients.

Approach

Our bodies store excess fat from the food that we eat. Using positron emission tomography, he and his team have developed the first method capable of quantifying the storage of dietary fatty acids in various organs in the human body. This new method enabled them to demonstrate that prediabetic patients experience: 1) a reduction in the storage of dietary fatty acids in body fat in the trunk; 2) an increase in the channelling of these fats toward the heart; 3) an association between the excessive channelling of fat toward the heart and a reduction in cardiac function.

Impact

Approximately 8% of Canadians are affected by type 2 diabetes, which is a major risk factor for heart disease. The demonstration of an increase in the channelling of dietary fatty acids toward lean organs such as the heart among prediabetic patients offers new targets for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes and resulting complications, in particular cardiac complications.

Date modified:

2013-10-31