Investigating whole body and skeletal muscle metabolic responses to galactose feeding in humans

"Background: Galactose is one of the three main monosaccharides consumed in the human diet, typically via lactose consumption from dairy products, and is metabolised via the enzymes of the Leloir pathway which are highly expressed in the liver. However, factors influencing galactose metabolism (such as co-ingestion of other nutrients) and the potential for galactose to impact peripheral tissues such as skeletal muscle require clarification.

Objective: The current project seeks to further characterise whole body and skeletal muscle galactose metabolism in humans.

Methods: Human feeding studies will characterise the metabolic and hormonal responses to galactose feeding with co-ingestion of other nutrients (e.g., glucose, protein) to further understand the factors influencing galactose metabolism. Human skeletal muscle samples collected from studies of galactose provision will be subjected to gene profiling (e.g., RNA Seq) to understand the biological impact of galactose on muscle.

Discussion: The project will help to establish the factors that influence galactose metabolism in humans and the biological role of galactose with skeletal muscle tissue. Expanding our current understanding of galactose will provide scope for further investigation of nutritional strategies to improve carbohydrate metabolism in health and disease contexts. "