LThe blood, liver and certain abdominal fat deposits of people with diabetes have a bacterial signature different from that seen in non-diabetics, observed the team of researchers, whose study was published Monday in the journal Nature Metabolism.
This demonstration was made using blood and tissue samples taken from 40 people with severe obesity while undergoing bariatric surgery. Half of the participants suffered from type 2 diabetes while the other subjects displayed insulin resistance without being diabetic, we explained in a press release issued by Laval University.
“The researchers proceeded to detect bacterial genetic material in each of the tissues collected, which came from the liver and three fatty deposits in the abdomen. The type of bacteria present and their relative abundance allowed the researchers to establish the bacterial signature of each tissue, ”it says.
The researchers’ analysis shows not only that the bacterial signature of people with diabetes is not the same as that of non-diabetics, but also that the abundance of bacteria varies from tissue to tissue, reaching a maximum in the liver and in the greater omentum (a fatty tissue connecting the stomach and the transverse colon), two sites strongly involved in metabolic regulation.
“Our results suggest that, in people suffering from severe obesity, bacteria or fragments of bacteria are associated with the development of type 2 diabetes”, summarizes the head of the study, André Marette, professor at the Faculty of Medicine. from Laval University and researcher at the IUCPQ Research Center.
Possibly from the intestine
According to the researchers, the bacterial genetic material that has been detected in these tissues “most likely” comes from the intestine. Professor Marette reminds us that the tightness of the intestinal barrier is reduced in obese people. “Our hypothesis is that living bacteria or fragments of bacteria cross this barrier and trigger an inflammatory process which, ultimately, prevents insulin from fulfilling its role of regulating blood glucose levels via its action on metabolic tissues” , he explains.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has awarded a $ 2 million grant to Professor Marette’s team, which will notably try to find out whether certain beneficial bacteria found in these tissues can be used to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. ” If so, they could represent a new family of probiotic bacteria or a source of bacterial molecules to help fight diabetes, ”concludes the researcher.
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