IBCS Seminar

Abstract
Oils from palm and coconut are high in saturated fatty acid (SFA) content and high SFA intake is associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Palmitate, an abundant SFA in these oils have been long been associated with raising circulating LDL and cholesterol. On top of this, excess palmitate (and other SFAs) induces cellular toxicity (lipotoxicity) more so than unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) and the mechanism underpinning this difference in response is slowly unravelling. Our interest in mechanisms of pancreatic insulin-producing cell (β-cells of the Islets of Langerhans) dysfunction and death, especially in type-2 diabetes, led us to study intracellular lipid droplet biogenesis, with the latter showing profound differences when exposed to different FAs. I will present largely unpublished data and provide a new mechanism by which SFAs, but not UFAs, induce β-cell stress and dysfunction. I will also discuss the subsequent impact of this mechanism on glucose homeostasis.