Ketogenic Diet, Lipotoxicty and Islets Biology

The ketogenic diet (KD), a very high-fat, low-carbohydrate regimen, has surged in popularity for weight loss and diabetes management. While short-term benefits are reported, long-term safety remains controversial. Nearly 20 million Americans now follow a KD, yet rigorous evidence lags behind its hype. Alarmingly, our work shows that prolonged KD disrupts insulin secretion by triggering Golgi stress and lipid overload in pancreatic β-cells, revealing a hidden metabolic cost that could accelerate diabetes progression. These findings challenge the assumption that KD is universally “healthy” and underscore the urgent need to define its risks.

Our Goal: is to uncover how long-term KD disrupts insulin secretion, with a focus on Golgi stress and lipotoxicity in pancreatic β-cells. Our ambition is to identify new strategies to protect β-cell function and improve the treatment of diabetes.

Our Research & Discoveries:

• KD uniquely impairs insulin secretion, causing severe glucose intolerance—unlike high-fat diets, which trigger hyperinsulinemia.
• Golgi stress emerges as a key culprit, disrupting insulin trafficking in β-cells and leading to secretory failure.
• KD elevates blood lipids and causes lipid buildup in islets, but β-cells survive—they just stop working properly.