Cardio-Metabolic Physiology

Goal of CMP Laboratory

The Cardio-Metabolic Physiology (CMP) laboratory is focussed on learning more about the metabolic alterations that occur in the heart, and the influence of the surrounding pericardial fat in the setting of diabetes and obesity.

Under the leadership of Dr Miles De Blasio, an expert in the endocrine and metabolic basis of diabetes and obesity, we are investigating the impact that diabetes and obesity have on cardiac metabolism and function. Diabetes and obesity are also associated with impaired signalling of the cardioprotective adiponectin signalling pathway which leads to lipotoxic cardiomyopathy.

Lipotoxicity is the accumulation of excess lipids (e.g. sphingolipids, ceramides) in non-adipose tissues, such as the heart, leading to cardiac inflammation, ROS generation, and cell death. The CMP lab are investigating the role that lipotoxicity plays in the pathogenesis of diabetes and cardiomyopathy.