Bacteria may give you Type 2 diabetes
By IANS | 2 Jun, 2015, 07.27PM IST
NEW YORK: In an important research that could lead to the development of vaccine to prevent one of the most prevalent diseases of our time - Type-2 diabetes, US researchers have found that toxins produced by a bacterium may cause the disease.
The researchers found that prolonged exposure to a toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria causes rabbits to develop the hallmark symptoms of Type-2 diabetes, including insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and systemic inflamma ..
"We basically reproduced Type-2 diabetes in rabbits simply through chronic exposure to the staph superantigen," said lead researcher Patrick Schlievert, professor at University of Iowa in the US.
The findings suggest that therapies aimed at eliminating staph bacteria or neutralising the superantigens - toxins produced by all strains of staph bacteria - might have potential for preventing or treating Type 2 diabetes.
"I think we have a way to intercede here and alter the course of diabetes," Schlievert said.
"We are working on a vaccine against the superantigens and we believe that this type of vaccine could prevent the development of Type-2 diabetes," Schlievert said.
The findings also explain why obesity that leads to changes in the ecosystem of bacteria that colonise our bodies is a risk factor for Type-2 diabetes.
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