JDRF funded study links 'hygiene hypothesis' to diabetes prevention

New York, NY, October 6, 2008 -- A research study funded by JDRF suggests that a common intestinal bacteria may provide some protection from developing type 1 diabetes. The findings provide an important step towards understanding how and why type 1 diabetes develops in people, and may lead to potential cures.

The study, reported this week in Nature Magazine, lends further support to the "hygiene hypothesis," that exposure to an appropriate amount and composition of bacteria may be important to living a healthy life, and that susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune disorders may actually be caused by a lack of exposure to certain parasites and microbes.

In the study, researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago found that exposure to certain bacteria will trigger an immune system response in mice. That response is believed to be what prevents autoimmune disorders -- conditions where the immune system attacks healthy cells in the body. In people with type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the beta cells in the pancreas, stopping a person's ability to detect glucose and produce insulin. For the purposes of the study, the bacteria used were harmless microbes typically found in the human intestine. The scientists suggest that safe, measured exposure to certain bacteria may lower the risk of immune disorders.

"This study outcome gives us a new avenue to explore", said JDRF Executive Vice President of Research, Richard A. Insel, MD. "And, with type 1 diabetes in the U.S. and many countries around the world at about a 3% annual rate, every lead is significant. The research gives impetus to better understanding how the bacterial flora in our body influences host immune defenses and responses that provide resistance to the development of type 1 diabetes. This understanding may provide new therapeutic approaches to prevention."

For the study, teams led by Li Wen at Yale and Alexander V. Chervonsky at the University of Chicago used mice that under normal conditions, would not develop diabetes. If raised in a germ-free environment, however, the mice developed diabetes. But mice that were exposed to common intestinal bacteria maintained a lower risk for the disease.

JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of type 1 research. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children and adults suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.3 billion to diabetes research, including more than $156 million in FY2008. In FY2008 the Foundation funded more than 1,000 centers, grants and fellowships in 22 countries.