Dr. Wayne Lautt

Biography

Dr. Chris Anderson is a Professor of the Departmet of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Manitoba, Canada.

Research Interest

We have recently discovered the mechanism of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes and many other disease states.  The mechanism is activated only following a meal and results n meal-induced insulin sensitization with the postprandial response to insulin being doubled as a result.  This new mechanism is based upon the ability of insulin to cause the release of a hormone (hepatic insulin sensitizing substance (HISS)) from the liver that acts selectively on skeletal muscle to stimulate glucose uptake and storage as glycogen.  The ability of insulin to release HISS is dependent on two feeding signals delivered to the liver through the hepatic parasympathetic nerves and hepatic glutathione.  Dysfunction of the hepatic nerves leads to insulin resistance secondary to lack of HISS action and results in postprandial hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, increased free radical production, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.  Therapeutic approaches to treat diabetes are directed at mimicking or potentiating the feeding signals in order to restore insulin sensitivity.  These studies range from molecular to cellular to integrative animal to human studies and include corporate pharmaceutical development.