The Hormone/Metabolite {HIM) Core Laboratory makes available to DRC investigators analytical techniques to support studies of diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, obesity, and related problems. The services provided are best based in a Core Laboratory because they require special instrumentation and methods that are difficult or impracticably expensive to establish in individual laboratories. In investigations of glucose homeostasis, insulin secretion, dyslipidemia, dietary interventions, efficiency of energy use, hormonal action, molecular genetics, or drug effects, it is essential to be able to monitor hormones such as insulin, C-peptide, glucagon, GLP-1, PYY, or catecholamines and such metabolites as glucose, FFA, glycerol, ketones, amino acids, and lipids. It may be useful to correlate these patterns with other phenomena relevant to the hypotheses being tested. In subjects with insulin resistance, it is important to have information about such parameters as glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and hepatic glucose output. There is a rationale for obtaining information on hormone fuel concentrations in studies concerned with the categorization of diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance, energy balance, and related problems.
The SPECIFIC AIMS ofthe H/M Core are: 1)To continue to meet the high demand for an array of bioassays by the Research Base. In the past funding cycle, the Core provided >200,000 assays to 25 DRC members supported by 54 grants, and to 27 non-DRC investigators. This has resulted in 11 new NIH grants, and 62 Core-supported publications (50 as primary, 12 as secondary Core). The bringing together of services in the Core allows for efficiency, high quality, and low cost. 2) To respond to Member's needs by undertaking new methods that the expertise of the Core staff can develop to help investigators and enhance their productivity. 3) To provide consultative and expert advice to students, post-doctoral fellows, and investigators on analytical methods, design of experiments, and interpretation of results obtained. 4) To train junior investigators and postdoctoral fellows. They can acquire actual hands-on experience in the Core and, if appropriate, to transfer analytical methods to their own labs. 5) In a new initiative in this renewal, to provide a conduit for metabolomics/lipidomics determinations in collaboration with the Columbia CTSA Laboratory. 6) To establish collaborations among Members, and/or facilitate access to new technologies, such as newly developed mass spectrometry based technologies metabolomics/ lipidomics at the CU CTSA.The H/M Core is partially supported by the DRC and partly by a NORC Center grant.
The H/M core provides analytical services to the DRC Research Base so that the investigators do not need to set up the methodologies in their own laboratories. This saves equipment, technologist, and investigator time and makes the Research Base much more productive. The Core also influences collaboration among investigators and has a strong training function particularly for young investigators. There is strong component of innovation in the setting up of new relevant methodologies.
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