Richard Bazinet

Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto

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Title

New methods lead to new findings regarding how diet and the liver regulate brain fatty acid levels

Abstract

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) is prevalent in the brain, playing a crucial role in regulating cell survival, neurogenesis, and neuroinflammation. While DHA can be obtained through dietary sources, particularly fish, it can also be synthesized from alpha-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n-3), a plant-based precursor, via a series of desaturation and elongation reactions in the liver. The efficiency of DHA synthesis from ALA remains a topic of considerable debate, particularly important in light of ecological concerns regarding fish stocks and an increase in non-fish eating populations. Compounding this issue is a limited understanding of human DHA requirements. In this presentation, I will discuss new isotopic methods that have revealed several unexpected insights into DHA metabolism, including a feedback inhibition mechanism whereby DHA suppresses its own synthesis in the liver. These and other findings will be contextualized within the framework of human development, DHA requirements and controlled trials investigating the effects of DHA intake on brain function.

Biosketch

Dr. Bazinet received his BSc from the University of Western Ontario and completed his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Cunnane at the University of Toronto in 2003.  Dr. Bazinet then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Stanley Rapoport’s Brain Physiology and Metabolism Section at the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health.   Dr. Bazinet joined the University of Toronto in 2006, where he is currently a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Brain Lipid Metabolism as well as the acting Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences.  Dr. Bazinet is the recipient of several awards, including the Early Career Award from the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids; the Jordi-Folch-Pi Memorial Award from the American Society for Neurochemistry; the Future Leaders Award from the International Life Sciences Institute,  the Young Scientist Award for the American Oil Chemists’ Society, the Early Researcher Award from the Canadian Society for Nutrition, the Ralph Holman life time achievement award from the Oil Chemists’ Society and most recently the Chevreul Medal from the French Society for the Study of Lipids.   Dr. Bazinet sits on several editorial boards and is currently Editor-in-Chief of Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids as well as a Senior Associate Editor of Lipids.  The overall goal of Dr. Bazinet’s research program is to identify the mechanisms that regulate brain lipid metabolism (signaling) and to identify the role of brain lipid metabolism in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders.  Dr. Bazinet has published over 200 papers, largely in the field of brain fatty acid metabolism and is co-author of the joint WHO/FAO joint expert consultation on dietary fats and the central nervous system during aging and disease and was previously the president of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL).