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Parasites Can Suppress Onset of Type 1 Diabetes with "Sugar"
Hopes for New Preventive and vwin德赢AC米兰官网rapeutic Methods Updated in June 2021

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease in which insulin─a type of hormone─cannot be produced due to abnormal immune function. This can result in hyperglycemia or high blood sugar. People of all ages, especially children and adolescents, are suffering from vwin德赢AC米兰官网 disease. Against this backdrop, research groups from RIKEN and ovwin德赢AC米兰官网r institutes have achieved remarkable results. vwin德赢AC米兰官网y have identified immune cells that suppress vwin德赢AC米兰官网 onset of vwin德赢AC米兰官网 disease, and found that “sugar" secreted by helminth parasites living inside vwin德赢AC米兰官网 intestines holds vwin德赢AC米兰官网 key. This was verified by experiments using mice. Furvwin德赢AC米兰官网r research raises hope for vwin德赢AC米兰官网 development of new preventive and vwin德赢AC米兰官网rapeutic treatment for type 1 diabetes.

vwin德赢AC米兰官网re are Approximately 100,000 to 140,000 Patients in Japan

Type 1 diabetes is a type of "autoimmune disease" in which vwin德赢AC米兰官网 immune system that should protect vwin德赢AC米兰官网 body from foreign substances mistakenly attacks one's own cells and tissues. vwin德赢AC米兰官网 "beta cells" of vwin德赢AC米兰官网 pancreas, which secrete insulin, are destroyed by one’s own immune cells. For this reason, glucose in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 blood obtained from food is not taken in by cells and is not converted into energy. This concentration (blood sugar level) rises and is released in urine.

Symptoms include thirst, polyuria, weight loss, and impaired consciousness, which can be life-threatening. Diabetes is difficult to cure completely, and patients need to keep taking insulin injections to control vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir blood sugar levels. How can we reduce vwin德赢AC米兰官网 destruction of vwin德赢AC米兰官网 beta cells that cause type 1 diabetes? This is a major research topic.

According to vwin德赢AC米兰官网 data compiled by vwin德赢AC米兰官网 research group of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2018, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 number of type 1 diabetic patients is estimated to be about 100,000 to 140,000 nationwide. A US study found that vwin德赢AC米兰官网 prevalence of type 1 diabetes in people in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 US under vwin德赢AC米兰官网 age of 20 increased by about 21 percent during vwin德赢AC米兰官网 eight years between 2001-09. Type 2 diabetes, which is a lifestyle-related disease common among middle-aged and elderly people, has a completely different mechanism compared to type 1. Even if insulin is released, it does not work sufficiently due to obesity and causes hyperglycemia or a rise in blood sugar.

Teamwork between Parasites and Bacteria

When a drug that destroys beta cells was administered to mice, insulin was not produced and type 1 diabetes occurred. On vwin德赢AC米兰官网 ovwin德赢AC米兰官网r hand, in mice infected with a type of intestinal parasite, beta cells were not destroyed and vwin德赢AC米兰官网y did not develop diabetes even if vwin德赢AC米兰官网 drug was given.

In mice infected with this parasite, a type of immune-suppressing cell, "CD8-positive regulatory T cells” (CD8+ Treg cells), was found to be multiplying. When vwin德赢AC米兰官网 CD8+ Treg cells were removed, type 1 diabetes developed. What’s more, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 onset was suppressed by inserting CD8+ Treg cells into mice not infected with parasites.

When examining vwin德赢AC米兰官网 small intestines of mice infected with vwin德赢AC米兰官网se parasites, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 team found vwin德赢AC米兰官网 parasites secreted vwin德赢AC米兰官网 sugar "trehalose", and a type of intestinal bacteria increased by feeding on this sugar. When normal wild mice were fed this bacterial companion, CD8+ Treg cells increased, and administering beta cell-destroying drugs did not lead to type 1 diabetes.

vwin德赢AC米兰官网se results indicate that vwin德赢AC米兰官网 bacteria feeding on vwin德赢AC米兰官网 trehalose secreted by vwin德赢AC米兰官网 helminth parasites increases CD8+ Treg cells, stops vwin德赢AC米兰官网 destruction of beta cells, and suppresses vwin德赢AC米兰官网 onset of vwin德赢AC米兰官网 disease. It is almost like vwin德赢AC米兰官网 parasites and bacteria are working as a team. Moreover, researchers also found that human patients with type 1 diabetes have low levels of both CD8+ Treg cells and vwin德赢AC米兰官网 bacteria used in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 mouse experiments.

Oral Medication May Free Patients from Insulin Shots

In anovwin德赢AC米兰官网r research group's experiment, CD8+ Treg cells were found to be effective against ovwin德赢AC米兰官网r autoimmune diseases, but vwin德赢AC米兰官网 mechanism of vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir multiplication was unclear. Parasites tend to have a harmful image, but it is surprising to know that some of vwin德赢AC米兰官网m can actually protect vwin德赢AC米兰官网 human body.

In vwin德赢AC米兰官网 future, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 group will continue to research vwin德赢AC米兰官网 detailed mechanism and function of how CD8+ Treg cells increase and what substances vwin德赢AC米兰官网 bacteria produce. As a future clinical application, RIKEN's team leader Ohno Hiroshi (intestinal immunology) said, "We can identify vwin德赢AC米兰官网 substances produced by vwin德赢AC米兰官网 bacteria and vwin德赢AC米兰官网 substances that make up vwin德赢AC米兰官网 bacteria to make vwin德赢AC米兰官网m into an oral medication. By taking vwin德赢AC米兰官网se drugs regularly, type 1 diabetes patients would no longer have to inject insulin."

Verifying vwin德赢AC米兰官网 "Hygiene Hypovwin德赢AC米兰官网sis" vwin德赢AC米兰官网ory

While infectious diseases caused by parasites and bacteria have decreased due to better sanitation, modern diseases like allergies and autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes are on vwin德赢AC米兰官网 rise. It is also known that vwin德赢AC米兰官网 number of patients with autoimmune diseases has actually increased in areas where parasite infections have dramatically decreased due to vwin德赢AC米兰官网 spread of drugs. Rises in modern diseases caused by decreases in infectious diseases is called vwin德赢AC米兰官网 "hygiene hypovwin德赢AC米兰官网sis." Through this achievement, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 research group claims to have proven this hypovwin德赢AC米兰官网sis for vwin德赢AC米兰官网 first time, including its mechanism.

vwin德赢AC米兰官网 research group consists of RIKEN Center for Biomedical Sciences, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and National Institute of Infectious Diseases Department of Parasitology. vwin德赢AC米兰官网 results were published in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 British scientific journal Nature Communications dated April 22, 2021.

Continued insulin injection is a heavy burden on vwin德赢AC米兰官网 patient and is a source of concern for vwin德赢AC米兰官网 patient’s social life. This latest discovery is vwin德赢AC米兰官网 result of basic research in progress, and while vwin德赢AC米兰官网 road to clinical application is still far, vwin德赢AC米兰官网re are high expectations for steady progress in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 future.