PhD Defence Sarah Maria Roger D’Haese

Keywords: Diabetic cardiomyopathy, Western diet, exercise training (intensity), pyridoxamine 
 

"Mitigating diabetic cardiomyopathy: Evaluating exercise training and pyridoxamine as cardioprotective approaches"

Diabetes mellitus, or diabetes, is a chronic condition where blood sugar is out of balance. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a two to five times higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. A specific form of heart disease that occurs in T2DM is defined as diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). This doctoral dissertation investigates the role of physical training, specifically moderate-intensity training (MIT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and the vitamin B6 analog pyridoxamine (PM) in the prevention and treatment of DCM. Using a rat model induced by a Western diet, the studies show that both MIT and HIIT can prevent and treat DCM, through both similar and different underlying mechanisms (e.g., reduced fibrosis, oxidative stress, and glycosylated proteins). PM also proves effective in reducing prediabetes and heart damage. The results emphasize the potential of MIT, HIIT, and PM as cardioprotective strategies in DCM.

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