We are pleased to announce that Zuzanna, by the decision of The National Science Center, received financial support for the project PRELUDIUM20 entitled “Perivascular adipose tissue versus gut microbiota: Raman imaging study”.
Let’s look at a brief description of the project.
For many years, perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) has been overlooked by scientists studying human anatomy. Until the 1990s, PVAT was routinely removed during the preparation of blood vessels for their further examination. However, scientists proved the effect of PVAT on blood vessels and thus ushered in a new direction of research in 1991. Nowadays it is known that PVAT as a paracrine tissue actively participates in vascular homeostasis and its dysfunctions are inherent in atherosclerosis, obesity and insulin resistance. Gut microbiota has also become a top of top topic among scientists dealing with cardiometabolic diseases. It is estimated that 40,000 different species of bacteria live in the human intestine, which absorbs about 10% of daily nutrients. Indigestible carbohydrates, such as fiber or starch, are used by gut microbiota to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). Metabolites of the gut microbiota, including most often acetic, propionic and butyric acid, affect, among others functioning of the liver, pancreas or adipose tissue by improving lipid and glucose metabolism, thus protecting against obesity and insulin resistance.
The aim of the project is to investigate the effect of gut microbiota on perivascular adipose tissue from the point of view of the development of cardiometabolic diseases. In our multifaceted research, both murine models and the in situ functional PVAT model will be used. The main research technique used in the study will be Raman spectroscopy. The state of the gut microbiota will be investigated using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). We suppose that gut microbiota via SCFA will impact PVAT and will (at least partially) reverse the negative influence of obesity and insulin resistance caused by a high-fat diet.
The project will be held in 2022-2024 and received funding of 208 345 PLN. Congratulations Zuza!