Tag: Dr. Norris

Persons with cystic fibrosis typically have an imbalance in their fatty acid levels. A prominent aspect of this imbalance is a deficiency of linoleic acid, which is one of the so-called essential fatty acids. Despite decades of research, the mechanisms of the imbalance are not fully understood. To better understand this fatty acid imbalance, a group of researchers at the University of Iowa, Kansas State University, and the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm Sweden worked together to study pigs and ferret with cystic fibrosis. The results showed that the imbalance exists at birth even before first feeding. This result argues strongly against one of the leading prior hypotheses which was that the imbalance might stem from the nutrient malabsorption that occurs in cystic fibrosis. Instead, the results suggest that several molecular mechanisms might be responsible for the imbalance, including excess metabolism of arachidonic acid, oxidative isomerization of unsaturated fatty acids, and/or biliary loss of phospholipids containing unsaturated fatty acids. The senior author of the resulting manuscript describing the findings was Dr. Norris from our Division. The work can be found published in the journal Clinical Science (link).

For reasons that are not well understood, persons with cystic fibrosis are at very high risk to develop diabetes. A major factor in this risk is poor secretion of insulin from beta-cells. A research team at the University of Iowa has now published findings that may have identified one of the root causes. The team found exceptionally high levels of reactive oxygen species in pancreas with cystic fibrosis. Furthermore, the islets isolated from cystic fibrosis pancreases exhibited increased production of reactive oxygen species and impaired secretion of insulin. However, two different approaches aimed at reducing or neutralizing excess reactive oxygen species production failed to improve insulin secretion. Nonetheless, the findings highlight what might be an important contributor to poor insulin secretion in persons with cystic fibrosis. From our division, Dr. Andrew Norris contributed to the research and publication. The paper can be found at this DOI link and a full text version can be found at this PubMed Central link.

Type 2 diabetes affects over 35 million Americans and is a leading cause of disability, expense, and mortality. Type 2 diabetes occurs worldwide and some countries have rates up to roughly three times higher than in the US. Type 2 diabetes rates are climbing, in part because there are not optimal therapies and preventative strategies. Dr. Norris has contributed to a team that has identified a novel molecular target to treat type 2 diabetes. The new findings have now been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications (link). The new target is a protein named SWELL1. It is a chloride transport protein and is involved in beta-cell and adipose tissue functions. Interestingly, certain small molecules that inhibit SWELL1 both improve insulin sensitivity and increase beta-cell function. This combination of effects potently improved blood sugar levels in mice, indicating that these types of SWELL1 inhibitors may be a very effective means to treat and/or prevent type 2 diabetes.

The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center (FOE-DRC) is located at the University of Iowa. The FOE-DRC was created in 2008 when the Fraternal Order of Eagles pledged a $25 million gift toward diabetes research. Since then, the FOE-DRC (link to FOE-DRC homepage) has grown to include over 100 faculty researchers from across the University. Collectively, these faculty conduct over $30 million of NIH-funded research annually. Major innovations have included studies of mitochondrial function, muscle wasting in diabetes, heart dysfunction in diabetes, diabetes in cystic fibrosis, and use of electromagnetic fields to lower blood sugar. From 2013-2021, the Center was under the stellar leadership of Dr. Dale Abel, who now has been recruited to lead the Department of Internal Medicine at UCLA. While a new permanent FOE-DRC head is being recruited, Dr. Andrew Norris from our Division will serve as interim Co-Director of the FOE-DRC, alongside Dr. Kamal Rahmouni. From 2014-2021, Dr. Norris served as Associate Director of the FOE-DRC. Dr. Norris has been a diabetes researcher for over 2 decades, leading translational studies related to the integrated physiology of diabetes across the lifespan, with recent focus on cystic fibrosis related diabetes and early life determinants of diabetes risk.