Experts have linked the cause of diabetes to a number of different factors. The quest for a cure still seems elusive because researchers have not yet been able to hone in on what may be the main cause of the said disease. But as they discover different things about diabetes, they get to learn more about the disease and hopefully will bring them to finding a cure someday. One of the recent discoveries regarding diabetes is its possible link to changes in the microorganism make up in the gut.
Some studies have previously linked bariatric surgery to the remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus. But the effect cannot solely be associated to weight loss alone. A new study investigating the link of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and gastric surgery in a mouse model of the disease found out that the disease remission occurred in conjunction with changes in the gut microbiota. The findings were recently published in The American Journal of Pathology.
The researchers at Nanjing University in China performed the study using a mouse model of T2DM, which mimics the symptoms of the disease, including insulin resistance, high blood lipid levels, obesity and metabolic inflammation. The mice also underwent duodenum-jejunum gastric bypass (DJB) surgery as a way to investigate its effects on the said disease.
The findings showed that duodenum-jejunum gastric bypass (DJB) surgery can effectively reverse the metabolic abnormalities associated with diabetes. But there’s more. The researchers also examined the composition of bacteria in the gut before and after the gastric bypass surgery. They found out that there was a decrease in pathogenic bacteria and an increase in beneficial bacteria in the gut after the surgery. This coincided with the onset of better glycemic control, which indicates that gut microorganisms may have a hand in the remission of diabetes during the said study.
Source: Elsevier Health Sciences. (2016, July 11). Diabetes reversal after bypass surgery linked to changes in gut microorganisms: Duodenum-jejunum gastric bypass surgery in diabetic mice results in changes in gut microbiota, improved metabolism, and diabetes remission. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 20, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160711092303.htm
Tags: bariatric surgery, Diabetes News, diabetes research, gut bacteria, type 2 diabetes