Gut Bacteria And Type 1 Diabetes: They May Be Linked

New findings published in the journal Cell: Immunity have now linked gut bacteria in both the prevention and regulation of type 1 diabetes.

Researchers from Inserm, Paris Descartes University and the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) along with others from China and Sweden have recently discovered how microbiota protects against the development of type 1 diabetes. 

Immune systems have developed various mechanisms to help detect and defend against pathogens. Furthermore, they can even fight to destroy micro-organisms that are harmful to the body, including antimicrobial peptides and natural proteins that destroy pathogenic bacteria by disrupting the cellular membrane. Not only are they produced by immune cells, but they are also produced by cells whose functions are not immune-related.

Researchers at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (NSERM) in France found that antimicrobial peptides called cathelicidins are not produced by beta pancreatic cells, that secrete insulin in mice with diabetes. However, it can be found in mice without diabetes. During the beginning of their research, the researchers injected the diabetic mice with cathelicidins.

"Injecting cathelicidins inhibits the development of pancreatic inflammation and, as such, suppresses the development of autoimmune disease in these mice," said Julien Diana, a researcher at INSERM, in a press release.

Cathelicidins production relies on short-chain fatty acids that are produced by gut bacteria. Researchers then worked to transfer gut bacteria from healthy mice to those with diabetes. They found that in the diabetic mice, short-chain fatty acids began to be produced by the gut bacteria and cathelicidin levels return to normal. 

Research has shown that this works similarly in humans, which may lead to future therapies for both diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. 

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