Read the Danish version

Too much glucagon in the blood raises blood sugar to inappropriate levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Studies are set to show whether fatty liver disease affects the liver’s glucagon sensitivity and amino acid turnover.

Since 2014, Dr Malte Palm Suppli has been part of the research team led by Filip Krag Knop, who is a consultant and head of the Center for Clinical Metabolic Research at Gentofte Hospital and a professor at the University of Copenhagen. For the next three years, Malte Palm Suppli will continue as a PhD student investigating the effect of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on the mechanisms behind blood sugar regulation. Malte Palm Suppli has just been awarded DKK 1.1 million for the project by the Danish Diabetes Academy.

‘Many people with type 2 diabetes secrete excessive concentrations of glucagon into the blood, which contributes to raising their blood sugar to inappropriate levels. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have not been established. Type 2 diabetes is associated with the incidence of NAFLD, and our research group has shown that elevated blood glucagon levels are related to fat accumulation in the liver, not to type 2 diabetes per se. Our hope is that the project will contribute to the development of new treatments for type 2 diabetes and/or NAFLD’, says Malte Palm Suppli. He continues:

‘New results indicate that the liver and the glucagon-producing alpha cells in the pancreas are connected in a so-called feedback loop that is regulated by circulating amino acids and glucagon, and we suspect that NAFLD disrupts this connection, leading to elevated glucagon levels. The aim of the project is to examine how the development of NAFLD affects amino acid and glucagon metabolism, so as to contribute to the fundamental understanding of the disease mechanisms of type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease.’

Prior to his PhD project, Malte Palm Suppli has had experience with the methods he will be using over the next three years. He was responsible for the conduct of experiments using similar methods, including controlled intravenous pancreatic hormone replacement and trace element analysis. The analytical work will be carried out in collaboration with Professor Jens Juul Holst and Associate Professor Nicolai Wewer Albrechtsen at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen.

A spell abroad will be called for as part of Malte Palm Suppli’s research. About two years into the project, he will move to the University of Oxford in the UK to work in Professor Patrik Rorsman’s laboratory.

By Pernille Fløjstrup Andersen, Communications Officer, DDA

Facts

Dr Malte Palm Suppli, born 1988

Has been awarded DKK 1.1 million by the Danish Diabetes Academy.

PhD project title: The impact of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease on hepatic glucagon sensitivity and amino acid turnover

Research centres: Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen / Gentofte Hospital / University of Oxford, UK

Contact: +45 2515 1436

--

Contact Danish Diabetes Academy

Managing Director Tore Christiansen

Email: tore.christiansen@rsyd.dk

Phone: +45 2964 6764