A new study discovers a connection between pollution and diabetes

Graduate student Lisa Koshko is pursuing the link between environmental exposure to pollutants and metabolic imbalance in the laboratory of Dr. Marianna Sadagurski.

In a new study published in Toxicological Sciences, she demonstrated that exposure of pregnant mice to low concentrations of benzene (mimicking the levels from cigarette smoking), predisposed the offspring to develop metabolic syndrome later in life. Indicators of metabolic syndrome that she evaluated included glucose intolerance and insulin resistance.

Furthermore, markers of inflammation and stress were elevated in the offspring. This study highlights the environmental and developmental risk factors for a disease that is increasing in the population. Postdoctoral fellows Lucas Debarba and Juliana Lima, and undergraduate researchers Patrick Fakhoury, Olesya Didyuk, and Mikaela Sacla also contributed to this study. You can download Lisa's article on the Oxford academic website.