Obesity progression: its effects on epicardial adipose tissue and the therapeutic activation of beige adipocytes (Mr Peter Aldiss)
Healthy people have an optimal amount of body fat which is made up of white (considered to be ‘bad’ when present in excess) and beige (thought to be ‘good’) fat cells. Some of these fat cells are located around certain parts of the heart and termed ‘epicardial fat’. Increased white fat and decreased beige fat occurs with obesity and is now recognised to play a major role in the onset of heart disease. This PhD studentship will look at how the amount of white and beige fat around the heart changes as body weight increases with obesity and how this difference could influence heart disease. The project then involves investigating if, in rats, the balance between beige and white fat around the heart can be increased in obesity through either cold-exposure, exercise or drugs targeted to increase the amount of beige fat.
Project details
| Grant amount | £115,778 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | PhD Studentship |
| Start Date | 01 October 2015 |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Reference | FS/15/4/31184 |
| Status | In Progress |
