Research set to study obesity impact on CVD

By Lloyd Mudiwa.

A researcher from the Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research at University College Dublin has won the first award under the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)-Health Research Board (HRB) Wellcome Trust Biomedical Partnership.

Dr Fiona McGillicuddy from the Institute’s Nutri-genomics Research Group received, under the partnership, a Research Career Development Fellowship worth €750,000 over five years to conduct research on the effects of obesity on cardiovascular health.

She will examine the links between obesity, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) — the so-called ‘good cholesterol’ — diet and coronary artery disease, and in particular, how obesity affects high-HDL function.

“First we want to determine whether being obese affects HDL’s ability to eliminate cholesterol,” Dr McGillicuddy explained. “We then want to determine whether the type of diet that causes the obesity also plays a role in elevating the risk of coronary artery disease. For example, you can be obese from eating a high-carbohydrate diet, or you can be obese from eating a high-saturated fat diet. We want to see how these very different diets affect HDL function, and consequently the risk of coronary disease.”

She said it was also accepted that during obesity, as the fat mass expands it becomes inflamed. She plans to investigate whether this adipose tissue inflammation results in the reduced ability of HDL to remove cholesterol from the body.

“We will examine whether new therapies that reduce fat inflammation can also improve HDL function and reduce the risk of coronary disease, despite the presence of obesity.”

Enda Connolly, HRB Chief Executive and Chairman of the Joint Executive Committee under the SFI-HRB Wellcome Trust Biomedical Partnership, encouraged other Irish researchers to apply for funding through the many schemes under the partnership.

lloyd.mudiwa@imt.ie