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Early diabetes may be linked to food intolerance, say scientists

The Guardian, Thursday 11 December 2008

A common type of diabetes that affects young people may be caused by an adverse reaction to food, scientists have found.

Suspicion has fallen on diet as a trigger for type 1 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in childhood, following the surprise discovery that the condition is genetically similar to coeliac disease, a gut disorder caused by intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat.

Genetic tests on nearly 20,000 people revealed that those with type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease shared seven unusual genetic regions that were not seen in healthy volunteers. The finding will prompt scientists to investigate whether gluten or other dietary factors may cause diabetes in young people who are genetically susceptible to the condition.

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Diabetes mellitus type 1 is ultimately an autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. The subsequent lack of insulin leads to increased blood and urine glucose.

Most people who develop type 1 lead an otherwise healthy lifestyle with very few restrictions to daily life. Research continues to gain further understanding into the disease, but to date it points to an immunological origin. The type of diabetes a patient has is determined only by the cause—is the patient insulin resistant? (type 2) or is insulin deficient in the patient? (type 1)

Influencing factors:

genetic susceptibility
a diabetogenic trigger
exposure to a driving antigen.
supplementary risk factors

Genetics

Type 1 diabetes is a polygenic disease and can be dominant or recessive depending on the loci of the genes. The strongest gene, IDDM1, is located in the Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II region on chromosome 6. A faulty gene on chromosome 16 has been linked to diabetes type 1. Source: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-07/17/content_5437226.htm

Certain variants of this gene increases the prevalence of diabetes, including DRB1 variants. These variants are common in North Americans of European ancestry as well as in Europeans. Supplementary research has also found forms that are protective of these genes.

Environment?

Migration and Identical Twin studies suggest environmental factors are tightly related to the expression of type 1 diabetes.

Viral?

DeLisa Fairweather & Noel R. Rose, and others, proposed that: "type 1 diabetes is a virally triggered autoimmune response in which the immune system attacks virually infected cells and beta cells in the pancreas", evidence is limited but Rubella has been suggested to be destructive in its viral nature as has the coxsakie B4 virus.

Diet?

Gut flora, intestinal permeability and immune function in the gut are of growing speculation. Particulary promising research in the field has shown a close connection to wheat and development of type 1 diabetes yet further research is needed to gain a more detailed insight into the mechanisms of this link.

Unusual Research:

In Northern Finland one study has found “Daily Vitamin D doses (2000 IU) during the first 12 months of infancy is linked with an 80% reduction in the risk of getting type 1 diabetes in adulthood”. Naturally, internal Vitamin D levels are low in the Finish population due to low light levels.