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Oh Savannah!

Oh Savannah! 2 February 2018

Oh Savannah!

Recent Kansas State University graduate Savannah Katulski has bid goodbye to her mainland friends and joined CTAHR as livestock and 4-H Extension faculty member for Kaua‘i county.

Hot Topic

Hot Topic 2 February 2018

Hot Topic

CTAHR faculty and partners briefed elected officials and legislative staffers on the issue of wildfires in Hawai‘i on a field trip to the Waianae Mountains. 

Beefing Up 4-H Skills

Beefing Up 4-H Skills 2 February 2018

Beefing Up 4-H Skills

CTAHR livestock expert Kyle Caires is conducting clinics for 4-H youth on Hawai‘i and Maui islands.

No Beating this Bushe

No Beating this Bushe 2 February 2018

No Beating this Bushe

The floriculture and nursery industry honors CTAHR veteran and alumnus Brian Bushe for dedicated service to the college and the agricultural community in Hawai‘i.

Not Root-Knot

Not Root-Knot 2 February 2018

Not Root-Knot

Coffee farmers got the low-down on a root-knot nematode at a Kona research plot that's amassed 11 years of research data on the pest.

Forestry Find

Forestry Find 2 February 2018

Forestry Find

Check out the great new website for Hawai‘i Forestry Extension!

Aquaponics and Health

Aquaponics and Health 21 December 2017

Aquaponics and Health

CTAHR Community Coordinator Ilima Ho-Lastimosa is part of a multidisciplinary effort to address health disparities thorough backyard aquaponics.

Maui County Awardees

Maui County Awardees 21 December 2017

Maui County Awardees

Maui County Extension celebrated its 2017 award winners — Secretary Clarisse Baisa, to left in lei, for service to faculty and staff, and Research Technician Edwin Perez, at right in cap, winner of the Administrator’s Award.

Congratulations Shirley Han!

Congratulations Shirley Han! 21 December 2017

Congratulations Shirley Han!

Office Assistant Shirley Han, left, was recognized for her service to the Molokai Cooperative Extension staff at a December 2017 lunch hosted by Maui County Administrator Cynthia Reeves (in red).

Bee on Screen

Bee on Screen 14 November 2017

Bee on Screen

Videos on the life cycle of bees and apian role in the rise of flowering plants captured national entomology awards for a CTAHR-led team.

Good Breeding

Good Breeding 14 November 2017

Good Breeding

Bred under the direction of the Mealani Research Station staff, CTAHR bulls rank among the top 5% of Angus in the country and are free of a common genetic disorder.

GoFarm’s Weigert Rocks

GoFarm’s Weigert Rocks 14 November 2017

GoFarm’s Weigert Rocks

Agritourism expert and one of “five women rocking” the Hawai‘i food scene Pomai Weigert has joined GoFarm as an agbusiness consultant.

Elder Affairs Advisor

Elder Affairs Advisor 14 November 2017

Elder Affairs Advisor

Center on the Family Assistant Specialist Sarah Yuan has been re-appointed to the State’s Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs for a second four-year term.

New Kaua‘i Agent

New Kaua‘i Agent 26 October 2017

New Kaua‘i Agent

Emilie Kirk has joined the Kaua‘i County Cooperative Extension team as junior Extension agent and Master Gardener coordinator with a focus on edible crops, food safety and security, ag education and production, and leadership development.

Virus Free is Sweet

Virus Free is Sweet 23 October 2017

Virus Free is Sweet

CTAHR organized a sweetpotato growers meeting featuring mainland experts and yield-boosting virus-tested ‘Okinawan’ planting materials.

Ruminating on Peas

Ruminating on Peas 23 October 2017

Ruminating on Peas

Low-water, nitrogen-fixing, tasty cowpeas are a potential niche crop for Hawai‘i producers, as Junior Extension Agent Jensen Uyeda recently demonstrated.

Delegates to National 4-H Congress

Delegates to National 4-H Congress 28 September 2017

Delegates to National 4-H Congress

The State committee reviewed the senior portfolios, interviewed the 4-H’ers and have come up with a list of 10 delegates qualified to represent Hawaii at this year’s National 4-H Congress in late November.

Giant Success

Giant Success 28 September 2017

Giant Success

East Hawai‘i 4-H had a huge presence at the Hawai‘i County Fair—both as volunteers and producers. In fact, they set four state records for produce—including a 20+ pound kalo and 137+ and 2+ pound tomato.

Samoa Swine Survey

Samoa Swine Survey 20 September 2017

Samoa Swine Survey

CTAHR Specialist Halina Zaleski assists in American Samoa’s first swine disease survey in two decades.

Irrigation Covered

Irrigation Covered 13 September 2017

Irrigation Covered

Choosing, funding, and using irrigation systems and conservation groundcovers was the focus of a Cooperative Extension workshop for orchardists at the Kona Extension Office and Research Station.

Documents to download

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4 September 2024

Myostatin and Astaxanthin

HNFAS diabetes studies get boost from Hawaiʻi Community Foundation

Myostatin and Astaxanthin

The prevalence of obesity among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders is statistically high and continues to rise, putting members of these communities at greater and greater risk for developing diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases.

With two generous grants from the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, Jinzeng Yang and Mi-Jeong Lee of the Dept. of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences are pursuing twin studies that could one day lead to better treatment and management for diabetes patients, here in the islands and perhaps the world over.

Muscles take up glucose from blood to use for fuel, so building muscle can help lower blood sugar and improve the health of diabetes patients, Jinzeng explains. As such, his team’s focus will be on developing a biologic drug to help patients build muscle – without exercising – by blocking the effects of myostatin, a natural protein that limits muscle growth. Their strategy includes administering part of the myostatin protein using mRNA technology, similar to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, Mi-Jeong will study the biology of adipose tissue, widely known as body fat. Adipose plays important roles in the causes of metabolic diseases, and maintaining healthy adipose tissues can protect against disease, she explains. As such, her team will investigate whether an anti-oxidant nutrient can improve adipose tissue health. They will focus on the effects of astaxanthin, an antioxidant carotenoid present in seafoods like shrimp and salmon.

“Our experiments will be designed to test a novel hypothesis that astaxanthin intake helps to maintain healthy adipose tissue and provide beneficial effects on cardiometabolic diseases,” says Mi-Jeong. “This project has the potential to impact dietary approaches or guidelines for cardiometabolic diseases.” 

Jinzeng adds, “We are excited the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, through its Medical Research Program, supports this kind of biomedical research through CTAHR. Hopefully, our findings will help pave the way for new diabetes drugs, as well as deepen our understanding of why myostatin blocking and muscle growth are beneficial to diabetes, potentially improving diabetes management globally.”