 | Research Director, NCCO
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology,
Metabolism and Molecular Medicine Dr. Mauvais-Jarvis's research studies center on reproductive hormones' role in the maintenance of energy homeostasis in humans. Altered production or action of estrogens and androgens predisposes people to developing obesity and diabetes. For example, in women loss of endogenous estrogen secretion or excess androgen production leads to higher risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. A major focus of Dr. Mauvais-Jarvis’s research is to elucidate the role that estrogens play in pancreatic beta-cell survival and insulin production. Type 1 diabetes, the most severe form of diabetes, requires treatment by daily insulin injections to maintain life. Pancreatic islet transplantation (PIT) is the best treatment for type 1 diabetes, but the progressive degradation of transplanted islets has thus far prevented long-term success. Mauvais-Jarvis’s lab has initiated mechanistic studies of the role estrogens and androgens play in beta-cell function and survival. In a model of type 1 diabetes, investigators are exploring the possibility that pharmacological modulators of estrogen receptors may promote survival of cultured human islet cells and cure hyperglycemia following islet cell transplantation. The long-term research goal is to develop non-feminizing medicines with estrogen-like actions that could be used to enhance the success of islet cell transplantation in type 1 diabetic patients. This work has implications for treating those with type 2 diabetes as well, where estrogen receptors may play a role in stimulating insulin production and protecting beta-cells during metabolic stress. Another novel area of Mauvais-Jarvis’s research is to understand how disruption in sex hormones’ homeostasis influence the risks of metabolic syndrome and obesity. His group is investigating the importance of post-natal androgen exposure in programming the early onset of obesity in youths. They are also exploring how excess androgens in women modify adipose tissue biology and provoke inflammation thereby setting the stage for onset of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Mauvais-Jarvis received his bachelor's degree in biology, his medical degree, and his residency in medicine from the Paris V School of Medicine in Paris, France. Afterward, he took a clinical fellowship in endocrinology there. He then completed his PhD in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Paris XI, in Paris, and a post docoratal fellowship in cellular and molecular physiology at Harvard Medical School, Boston. Areas of specialty
molecular mechanisms by which male and female hormones program energy metabolism and influence the risks of obesity and diabetes For more, download Dr. Mauvais-Jarvis's Biosketch (Word document) Recent Publications
Le May C, Chu K, Hu M, Ortega CS, Simpson ER, Korach KR, Tsai MJ, Mauvais-Jarvis F*. Estrogens protect pancreatic beta-cells from apoptosis and prevent insulin deficient diabetes in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006. Jun 13;103(24):9232-7. Lee NK, Sowa H, Hinoi E, Ferron M, Ahn JD, Confavreux C, Dacquin R, Mee PJ, McKee M, Jung DY, Zhang Z, Kim JK, Poitou C, Clement K, Mauvais-Jarvis F, Ducy P, Karsenty G. Regulation of energy metabolism by skeleton. Cell. 2007 Aug 10; class="volume"130( class="issue"3): class="pages"456-69. Louet J, Smith S, Gautier JF, Molokhia M, Virally M., Kevorkian JP, Guillausseau PJ, Vexiau P, Charpentier G, German M, Vaisse C, Urbanek M, Mauvais-Jarvis F*. Gender and neurogenin3 influence the pathogenesis of ketosis-prone diabetes. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2008 Sep; class="volume"10( class="issue"10): class="pages"912-20. Epub 2007 Dec 17. Choukem SP, Sobngwi E, Fetita LS, Boudou P, De Kerviler E, Boirie Y, Hainault I, Vexiau P, Mauvais-Jarvis F, Calvo F, Gautier JF. Multi-tissue insulin resistance despite near-normoglycemic remission in Africans with ketosis-prone diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2008 Sep 22. [Epub ahead of print] |
