Soft fruits in the regulation of postprandial glucose

Type 2 diabetes is an increasingly prevalent chronic condition, affecting 2.5 million people in the UK (about 5% of the population). It is exacerbated by the continuing rise in obesity and is expected to double in incidence in the next 20 years, substantially increasing the financial burden on health care resources. Type 2 diabetes is characterised by insulin resistance with associated pre- and post-prandial hyperglycaemia. While weight loss is an effective strategy to improve insulin resistance and, therefore, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, many people find weight loss difficult to achieve and maintain. Thus, the burgeoning problem of type 2 diabetes still requires effective management.

Dietary strategies for alleviating the metabolic complications such as diabetes associated with obesity are being pursued as alternatives/supplementary to pharmaceutical interventions.

The aim of this project is to identify the bio-active phytochemical ingredients in specific soft fruit cultivars and demonstrate how these differentially impact on post prandial glucose uptake and regulation in humans.

This involves a combination of human studies and lab based research using a wide variety of techniques.

Research training:

Training will be given in a wide range of techniques dependent on the direction of the project. These include Human intervention studies, ELISAs, cell culture, glucose uptake, RNA analysis (isolation, reverse transcription, quantitative PCR), Western blotting.