Gut Microbiota May Contribute to Type 2 Diabetes

Gut microbiota could influence how cells respond to insulin and can contribute to type 2 diabetes, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Cell.

During recent years, the gut microbiota has been associated with health and several disease conditions. However, only a few studies have investigated whether an altered gut microbiota can directly affect disease.

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‘Gut microbiota has been linked to health and several disease conditions. But, only a few studies have examined whether an altered gut microbiota can directly affect disease. A new study finds that gut microbiota may contribute to type 2 diabetes as it has the ability to influence how cells respond to insulin. ’
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Scientists at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, are now showing that the gut microbiota of people with treatment-naïve type 2 diabetes can be linked to a different metabolism of the amino acid histidine, which is mainly derived from the diet.

This, in turn, leads to the formation of imidazole propionate, a substance that impairs the cells' ability to respond to insulin. Reducing the amount of bacterial-produced imidazole propionate could, therefore, be a new way of treating patients with type 2 diabetes.

"This substance does not cause all type 2 diabetes, but our working hypothesis is that there are subpopulations of patients who might benefit from changing their diet or altering their gut microbiota to reduce the levels of imidazole propionate," says Fredrik Backhed, Professor of Molecular Medicine with a research focus on the role of gut microbiota in metabolism.

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The latest study included the analysis of various substances in the blood vessel that goes from the intestine to the liver. The researchers then identified an elevated concentration of the substance imidazole propionate in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Using fecal samples, it was also possible to show that the microbiota of people with type 2 diabetes produced imidazole propionate when histidine was added. This mechanism was not found in the diabetes-free control subjects.

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The study comprised of 5 patients with type 2 diabetes and ten diabetes-free control subjects. The findings were then confirmed in a larger study involving 649 people.

The Gothenburg scientists then proceeded to investigate the effect of imidazole propionate on sugar metabolism and found that the molecule affected a signaling pathway previously linked to metabolic-related diseases by directly activating a specific protein, p38gamma.

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These findings provide answers to questions about the nature of the underlying mechanisms. These, according to Backhed, often remain unanswered in studies of how gut bacteria are associated with, for example, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

As Director of the Wallenberg Laboratory for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research at Sahlgrenska Academy, he sees the translational research environment as a key to the results now being presented.

The combination of basic and clinical research paves the way for the identification of bacteria-induced mechanisms and simultaneously, through further studies, stratify patient populations and identifying new more personalized forms of treatment.

"Our findings show clearly how important the interaction between gut microbiota and diet is to understand our metabolism in health and disease. The result also shows that gut bacteria from different individuals can lead to the production of completely different substances that may have very specific effects on the body," says Backhed.

Source-Eurekalert