Study of the Mechanisms of Metabolic Adaptations to Overfeeding

Obesity results from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors, and are strongly associated with metabolic complications such as type 2 diabetes mellitus. Obesity is defined as an excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health, a risk that is highly dependent upon the type of adipose tissue accumulation, whether visceral or sub-cutaneous, but also upon the characteristics of the fat tissue, especially inflammatory cells accumulation. Because of the well known sexual difference in fat accretion, this obesity-associated risk may also be very different for men and for women. In addition, recent data indicate that various factors such as the intestinal microbiota, but also the dietary intake of protective nutrients might be important determinants of the metabolic complications of obesity. Here we propose to: 1) study the metabolic adaptations and the mechanisms of adipose tissue accumulation during a period of controlled caloric over-nutrition, both in men and in women; 2) evaluate the potential protective effects of a supplementation with polyphenols on insulin resistance and other metabolic adaptations.