The Right Germs: Gut Bacteria and Diabetes

By David Spero Type 2 diabetes tends to run in families: If parents have it, children are likely to get it too. But is that because of having similar genes, or similar behaviors? Maybe it's neither. Maybe it's having the same kind of bacteria in their guts. This is an exciting idea, because if we find a way to change gut bacteria, we might be able to cure diabetes. The right germs have cured several other diseases, so why not diabetes? What's the evidence for a bacteria/diabetes connection? A Swedish study of 145 women found that the genes in intestinal bacteria predict diabetes more accurately than waist-to-hip ratio or body-mass index (a measure of weight relative to height). A Chinese study of 345 people published last year found the same thing. The authors wrote, Analysis showed that patients with Type 2 diabetes were characterized by…a decrease in some…butyrate-producing bacteria and an increase in various opportunistic pathogens. According to scientists at the University of Aberdeen, "Butyrate plays a key role in maintaining human gut health, as the major source of energy to the colonic mucosa." Butyrate also seems to prevent inflammation and cell death. Our resident bacteria are called our microbiome. The combination of our own genes and those of our resident bacterial is called our metagenome. A disordered metagenome has been linked to obesity as well as diabetes. A study of female twins from Missouri showed that obese women had different bacteria in thei...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs