Is Staphylococcus the cause of diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes can be caused by bacteria, scientists have found
The prolonged presence of Staphylococcus aureus colonies on the skin may be the cause of the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, with the onset of which the body's sensitivity to insulin is gradually dulled, scientists say in an article published in the journal mBio (Vu et al., Chronic Superantigen Exposure Induces Systemic Inflammation, Elevated Bloodstream Endotoxin, and Abnormal Glucose Tolerance in Rabbits: Possible Role in Diabetes).
"I think we managed to find a way to intervene in this process and change the course of diabetes development. Today we are working on creating a vaccine against superantigens of these microbes, and we believe that such drugs will be able to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes," said Patrick Schlievert from the University of Iowa (in a press release University of Iowa Bacteria may cause Type 2 diabetes – VM).
Schlivert and his colleagues found out that one of the causes of diabetes may not be internal processes in the body, but pathogenic bacteria, observing the lives of several rabbits, which they infected with Staphylococcus aureus, the causative agent of a number of extremely severe hospital epidemics in the 50s of the last century.
When scientists planted microbes on the surface of the animals' skin and gave them the opportunity to form colonies, they witnessed an extremely curious effect – after a few weeks, rabbits acquired all the signs of type 2 diabetes.
"We found out that as people gain excess weight, they become more and more attractive to staphylococcus, and more and more colonies of this microbe begin to appear on their skin. The "hosts" of such colonies are constantly being attacked by toxins and superantigens that produce bacteria," continues Schlievert.
The reason for this was that the microbes secreted a large number of superantigens – a "cocktail" of toxins and proteins that manipulate the work of neurons, causing a feeling of pain in them, and help the microbe "dig in" in a new nutrient medium. These substances, getting into the blood and adipose tissue, noticeably change their work and cause chronic inflammation and change the internal work of cells, which ultimately reduces their sensitivity to insulin and leads to the development of diabetes mellitus.
The scheme from the article in mBio – VM.
Having discovered this phenomenon, Schlivert and his colleagues tested how many of these microbes are present on the skin of healthy people and diabetics. The suspicions of scientists were confirmed – diabetics were indeed covered with a noticeably large number of staphylococcus colonies.
Now scientists are working on creating a vaccine that would help the body fight the chronic presence of staphylococcus on the skin. In addition, the authors of the article will soon check how the insulin sensitivity of diabetics will change if their skin is treated with a special gel that will instantly kill bacteria and prevent them from re-"colonizing" the skin for several weeks.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru03.06.2015