Dr. Sushil Jain's Research Focus

Major Research Interests:
Nutrition and free radicals; cellular damage in health and disease.

Nutrition and free radicals; cellular damage in health and disease.

Our laboratory has been interested in the role of free radical damage in the disease process. Our major interest at present is in delineating the biochemical mechanisms by which hyperglycemia causes the cellular damage, vascular inflammation and complications of diabetes. We are actively involved in investigating the mechanisms of glycation of proteins and whether antioxidants and chromium supplementation to diabetic patients is benefical in reducing the glycemia, vascular inflammation and complications of diabetes. The rate of complications of diabetes are manyfold higher in African-Americans than in the white population. It is also known that the incidence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in African-Americans is nearly 10%, compared with 1% in whites. We are investigating whether the increased severity of complications of diabetes in African-Americans is associated with an increased vulnerability of G6PD-deficient cells to glucose-induced oxidative damage. Other areas of interest are studying the role of membrane oxidative damage in the formation of irreversibly sickled cells in relation to the sickle cell disease, and how oxidative injury to the sickle cell membrane induces cellular dehydration and viscosity changes. We are also interested in understanding the role of trace metals, vitamin E, chromium and NAC in the signal transduction pathways, cytokines secretion and apoptosis in monocytes and endothelial cells.