The laboratory of Dr. Adams investigates the etiology of obesity and associated disorders such as diabetes, determines how specific foods and food components modify these parameters, and searches for molecular biomarkers reflective of a healthy or disordered metabolism.  One program explores the interrelationship between fat cells (adipocytes) and the peripheral nervous system.  Interestingly, there are a number of proteins uniquely co-expressed in both tissue types, suggestive of shared function and potential cross-talk between fat and afferent neural circuits relaying information to the brain.  At least two “neuron-adipocyte” genes have been found to be differentially-expressed in obesity, and current studies are examining the biology of these gene products and their relationship to obesity physiology.  Other research focuses on the inflammatory profile of adipose tissue, since the overweight condition often drives increased immune cell activity and infiltration in fat.  As part of a team of WHNRC scientists, the Adams lab is studying whether the reported anti-inflammatory properties of dairy/calcium apply to a clinical setting in obese and overweight subjects, testing a suite of molecular markers to monitor immune cell functions and cell types in fat tissue.  In these same studies, the influence of dairy consumption on pre- and post-prandial gut and pancreatic hormone shifts are being characterized to better understand how changes in nutrition regulate endocrine function.  Finally, Dr. Adams is working with several collaborators to ascertain whether metabolite signatures indicative of poor insulin action and the pre-diabetic state can be identified.  The ultimate goal of the latter is to provide a prognostic and diagnostic molecular toolkit, useful to probe an individual’s metabolic status and to monitor the success of nutritional and physical activity intervention strategies to thwart development of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Research Accomplishments

·         The team has identified two cellular proteins which share the unusual property of abundant co-expression in fat cells and in neurons involved with signaling information from peripheral tissues to the brain.  Such a pattern suggests that these otherwise quite different biological systems share important functional attributes.  In collaborations with French investigators at INSERM (Paris) and at the Université de la Méditerranée (Marseille), we have found that expression of the fat-neuron genes are altered in the adipose (fat) tissue in human obesity.  This emerging view of fat-neuron functional interaction may be important in understanding how environmental cues help regulate body fat, and could have implications for clarifying why obesity and insulin resistance are often linked to neuropathy.

·         Working with groups from UC Davis, the University of Ottawa, the University of Alabama Birmingham, and Case Western Reserve University, metabolite patterns indicative of fatty acid ß-oxidation (“fat burning”) in muscle are being characterized in order to identify blood biomarkers of this parameter in humans.  Such a tool will prove important clinically to identify individuals who are at-risk for developing diabetes and pre-diabetes (often associated with dysregulated muscle ß-oxidation).  This may in turn be used to optimize and track efficacy of nutritional, physical activity-based, or other interventions for improving metabolic health.  Initial results have shown that the team can sensitively identify a broad suite of metabolites produced by the sub-cellular “powerhouse” of tissues, mitochondria.