A new study has revealed that gut microbiota, which is the complex community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tracts of humans and other animals, has the ability to affect how cells respond to insulin, and can thus contribute to type 2 diabetes. The study was published in the Journal of Cell. Scientists at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, showed that the gut microbiota of people with treatment-naïve type 2 diabetes can be linked to a different metabolism of the amino acid histidine, which is mainly derived from the diet. During recent years, the gut microbiota has been associated with health and several disease conditions. However, only a few studies have investigated whether an altered gut microbiota can directly affect disease. This, in turn, leads to the formation of imidazole propionate, a substance that impairs the cells’ ability to respond to insulin. Reducing the amount of bacterial-produced imidazole propionate could, therefore, be a new way of treating patients with type 2 diabetes. “This substance does not cause all type 2 diabetes, but our working hypothesis is that there are subpopulations of patients who might benefit from changing their diet or altering their gut microbiota to reduce the levels of imidazole propionate,” said Fredrik Backhed, Professor of Molecular Medicine with a research focus on the role of gut microbiota in metabolism. The latest study included the analysis of various substances in the blood vessel that goes from the intestine to the liver.
