Digital disputation

Cand.med Sindre Lee-Ødegård at Institute for Basic Medical Sciences will be defending the thesis “Molecular links between physical activity and insulin sensitivity in men” for the degree of Dr.Philos. (Doctor Philosophiae).

Summary of research

The 1921 discovery of insulin was a Big Bang from which a vast and expanding universe of research into insulin action and resistance has issued. Insulin resistance is a key pathophysiological processes involved in diabetes mellitus type 2, one of the most prevalent and costly non-infectious diseases. Physical exercise is a cornerstone in preventing and treating diabetes mellitus type 2 by its substantial effects on insulin resistance. We analysed normal weight normoglycemic and overweight dysglycemic men before and after acute, long-term and acute upon long-term intensive exercise, focusing on three key insulin target tissues: skeletal muscle, liver, and white adipose, as well as blood. We considered the critical and underappreciated role of tissue crosstalk in whole body insulin action, especially the non-cell autonomous factors proposed to induce insulin resistance, including inflammatory mediators, sulphur- and branched-chain amino acids, adipokines, and hepatokines.