Translational Medical Research Commons^™

The Value Of Innovation To Implementation Program (Vi2p): A Strategic Approach To Aligning And Leveraging Academic Research And Clinical Care Missions, Jing Li, Mark V. Williams, Cecilia Page, Lisa A. Cassis, Philip A. Kern, Robert S. Dipaola

Clinical and Translational Science Faculty Publications

Problem: Inefficient implementation of evidence-based care garners increasing attention as a source of suboptimal value of clinical care, and integration of quality improvement methodology into clinical practice represents a potential solution. Academic medical centers (AMCs) often have expertise in implementation science, yet it is not leveraged effectively to solve operational inefficiencies or to rapidly implement evidence-based practices (EBPs).

Approach: To leverage in-house research expertise, the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Medicine and Center for Health Services Research (CHSR) launched a pilot awards program—Value of Innovation to Implementation Program (VI2P)—across its health system and six health professional colleges. Criteria for …

Metformin Blunts Muscle Hypertrophy In Response To Progressive Resistance Exercise Training In Older Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Trial: The Masters Trial, R. Grace Walton, Cory M. Dungan, Douglas E. Long, S. Craig Tuggle, Kate Kosmac, Bailey D. Peck, Heather M. Bush, Alejandro G. Villasante Tezanos, Gerald Mcgwin, Samuel T. Windham, Fernando Ovalle, Marcas M. Bamman, Philip A. Kern, Charlotte A. Peterson

Clinical and Translational Science Faculty Publications

Progressive resistance exercise training (PRT) is the most effective known intervention for combating aging skeletal muscle atrophy. However, the hypertrophic response to PRT is variable, and this may be due to muscle inflammation susceptibility. Metformin reduces inflammation, so we hypothesized that metformin would augment the muscle response to PRT in healthy women and men aged 65 and older. In a randomized, double-blind trial, participants received 1,700 mg/day metformin (N = 46) or placebo (N = 48) throughout the study, and all subjects performed 14 weeks of supervised PRT. Although responses to PRT varied, placebo gained more lean body …

Fatty Acid Metabolites Combine With Reduced Β Oxidation To Activate Th17 Inflammation In Human Type 2 Diabetes, Dequina A. Nicholas, Elizabeth A. Proctor, Madhur Agrawal, Anna C. Belkina, James M. Van Nostrand, Leena Panneerseelan-Bharath, Albert R. Jones Iv, Forum Raval, Blanche C. Ip, Min Zhu, Jose M. Cacicedo, Chloe Habib, Nestor Sanez-Rueda, Leah Persky, Patrick G. Sullivan, Barbara E. Corkey, Caroline M. Apovian, Philip A. Kern, Douglas A. Lauffenburger, Barbara S. Nikolajczyk

Clinical and Translational Science Faculty Publications

Mechanisms that regulate metabolites and downstream energy generation are key determinants of T cell cytokine production, but the processes underlying the Th17 profile that predicts the metabolic status of people with obesity are untested. Th17 function requires fatty acid uptake, and our new data show that blockade of CPT1A inhibits Th17-associated cytokine production by cells from people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). A low CACT:CPT1A ratio in immune cells from T2D subjects indicates altered mitochondrial function and coincides with the preference of these cells to generate ATP through glycolysis rather than fatty acid oxidation. However, glycolysis was not critical for …

Sphk2−/− Mice Are Protected From Obesity And Insulin Resistance, Shwetha Ravichandran, Brian S. Finlin, Philip A. Kern, Sabire Özcan

Clinical and Translational Science Faculty Publications

Sphingosine kinases phosphorylate sphingosine to sphingosine 1‑phosphate (S1P), which functions as a signaling molecule. We have previously shown that sphingosine kinase 2 (Sphk2) is important for insulin secretion. To obtain a better understanding of the role of Sphk2 in glucose and lipid metabolism, we have characterized 20- and 52-week old Sphk2^−/− mice using glucose and insulin tolerance tests and by analyzing metabolic gene expression in adipose tissue. A detailed metabolic characterization of these mice revealed that aging Sphk2^−/− mice are protected from metabolic decline and obesity compared to WT mice. Specifically, we found that 52-week old …

A Guide For Using Nih Image J For Single Slice Cross-Sectional Area And Composition Analysis Of The Thigh From Computed Tomography, Douglas E. Long, Alejandro G. Villasante Tezanos, James N. Wise, Phillip A. Kern, Marcas M. Bamman, Charlotte A. Peterson, Richard A. Dennis

Clinical and Translational Science Faculty Publications

Reports using computed tomography (CT) to estimate thigh skeletal muscle cross-sectional area and mean muscle attenuation are often difficult to evaluate due to inconsistent methods of quantification and/or poorly described analysis methods. This CT tutorial provides step-by-step instructions in using free, NIH Image J software to quantify both muscle size and composition in the mid-thigh, which was validated against a robust commercially available software, SliceOmatic. CT scans of the mid-thigh were analyzed from 101 healthy individuals aged 65 and older. Mean cross-sectional area and mean attenuation values are presented across seven defined Hounsfield unit (HU) ranges along with the percent …