[Research] Gut bacteria controls diabetes

[Bernard]

...
To summarize the linked article: There is a strain of mice that did not develop insulin resistance from any of the usual procedures used to induce insulin resistance in mice. This particular group of researchers noticed that these diabetes resistant mice were typically housed in isolation from normal mouse micro-organisms. These researchers housed a group of these mice in "conventional facilities" (as opposed to "germ-free" facilities, which was normal) where they were exposed to various bacteria. These mice then developed insulin resistance. When the gut bacteria from these mice were transplanted into other mice, those mice, also, developed the symptoms of insulin resistance. Finally, if these mice were given broad spectrum antibiotics (presumably killing off the microbiota that had developed in their guts) they lost their insulin resistance.

In summation, what they discovered is that the micro-organisms that live in your intestines play a role in whether or not you develop Type 2 diabetes.
...

More: http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/10/1649204/gut-bacteria-can-control-diabetes

Source study: http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001212

 

[epileric]

It is exciting but very preliminary since it is only in mice. Even the authors agree that it shows that an interaction between environmental & genetic factors influence the likelihood of diabetes.

Author Summary

An intricate interaction between genetic and environmental factors influences the development of obesity and diabetes. Previous studies have shown that mice lacking an important receptor of the innate immune system, Toll-like Receptor 2 (TLR2), are protected from insulin resistance.