Breakthrough T1D-funded researchers have found that indirectly altering the gut microbiome in mice through an oral supplement can delay the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D).
The results have been published in the prestigious Nature Communications.
In T1D the immune system mistakenly attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Over time, so many beta cells are lost that the body can’t make its own insulin anymore.
We think that in people genetically predisposed to T1D, the condition commences when something in the environment triggers the immune system to start attacking beta cells. But while there’s evidence that certain viruses may be a trigger, we don’t know for sure how many factors in the environment such as other infections and nutrition could also start the condition or contribute to its progression.
Knowing what causes or triggers T1D in those genetically susceptible will open doors to preventing the condition. That is, if we know what causes T1D, we can develop preventive therapies or strategies to stop it from ever starting.
Now, a Breakthrough-funded T1D study, led by Professor Emma Hamilton-Williams, from the Frazer Institute, and Dr Eliana Mariño, from Monash University, has found that boosting beneficial gut bacteria through an oral supplement may help delay T1D in mice.
A role for gut flora in type 1 diabetes?
Recent scientific interest has focused on whether changes in the gut flora (or gut microbiome) and the substances it produces could shape how the immune system behaves and its role in the development of T1D. The microbiome is the whole collection of bacteria and viruses that live in and on a person’s body.
This is because research has shown that the microbiome may play an important role in other conditions such as gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease and brain disorders.
Recent evidence has shown that people living with T1D often have fewer gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs are products made by bacteria when fibre is fermented in the gut.
Professor Hamilton-Williams says:
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune illness, and we know there is something different about the gut microbiome and gut barrier function that we think changes the immune response in individuals with the condition.
Given these differences in people with T1D, leading to lower levels of SCFAs, Professor Hamilton-Williams, Dr Mariño and their teams set out to uncover what would happen if they gave people with T1D an oral supplement with SCFAs.
What was the study and what did it show?
The Breakthrough-funded T1D study gave 21 people living with T1D an oral supplement with SCFAs for 6 weeks and followed them up for 3 months. They used cutting edge techniques to analyse participants’ blood and stool samples to track their immune response and changes in gut microbiome.
The results showed that using the oral supplement led to an improvement in participants’ gut microbiome and immune response. This was the first time that researchers have been able to do this.
The researchers then went one step further and wondered if these microbiome changes would reduce the risk of developing T1D. To answer this, they transplanted samples of the participant’s microbiome to mice who were at risk of developing T1D. Remarkably, mice that received a microbiome from people who had the most beneficial microbiome changes to the supplement went on to develop T1D more slowly. That is, they saw a delay in T1D development. This was a world-first finding.
What does this mean and what’s next?
These exciting results suggest that giving a supplement with designed to boost SCFAs may improve the gut microbiome and in turn delay or event prevent the onset of T1D. While it’s early days, this is an exciting avenue which opens the door for new opportunities to one delay or even prevent the condition.
Further work in this area is being planned by the team. Professor Hamilton-Williams says:
These results show there could be interventions on the horizon that can restore healthy microbiota to reduce the autoimmune progression and delay, or even prevent, T1D.
The next step is to conduct a trial involving people right at the onset of type 1 diabetes, followed by people who have not received a diagnosis but are at high risk.
Our research work into preventing or delaying T1D
This work is part of a larger Breakthrough T1D focus of finding therapies that can delay or even prevent T1D from occurring. Read more about how we’re supporting T1D research in this area.
Learn more about how we’re supporting research to find what in the environment could be causing T1D.
