"Effect of High Fat and High Glycemic Diets

The investigators will determine whether people with high muscle mitochondrial capacity
produce higher amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on consuming high fat /high glycemic
diet and thus exhibit elevated cellular oxidative damage. The investigators previously found
that Asian Indian immigrants have high mitochondrial capacity in spite of severe insulin
resistance. Somalians are another new immigrant population with rapidly increasing prevalence
of diabetes. Both of these groups traditionally consume low caloric density diets, and the
investigators hypothesize that when these groups are exposed to high-calorie Western diets,
they exhibit increased oxidative stress, oxidative damage, and insulin resistance. The
investigators will compare Somalians and NE Americans who are matched for age, BMI, and sex.
The investigators will measure ROS production in skeletal muscle following high fat/high
glycemic diet vs. healthy diet. The investigators will compare the oxidative damage to
proteins, DNA, and lipids in these two populations following 10 days of high fat/high
glycemic index diet in comparison with low fat diet. The investigators will determine if
elevated levels of oxidative damage in Somali immigrant populations is accompanied by high
mitochondrial capacity, higher ROS-emitting potential, and lower insulin sensitivity than NE.
The proposed study will be performed utilizing the state-of-the-art proteomic and metabolomic
methods many of which were recently developed in our laboratory. The investigators expect the
results from this study to provide seminal insights into the underlying mechanism of insulin
resistance and type 2 diabetes, in addition to demonstrating mechanisms by which a functional
proteome is maintained in vivo.