(Press-News.org) Insulin is required for the regulation of blood sugar levels. In type I diabetes, the cells that produce insulin are destroyed by the immune system. Chantal Mathieu and colleagues at the University of Leuven have attempted to circumvent this response by taking advantage of the fact that the immune system accepts foreign gut bacteria. The Mathieu group engineered gut bacteria so that they produce a form of insulin, and asked if these bacteria could retrain the immune system in mice with type I diabetes to accept insulin-producing cells. They found that these special bacteria increased the frequency of cured mice when compared to traditional methods alone, with seemingly no undesirable effects. Traditional methods suppress the immune system, which brings with it unfavorable consequences such as increased infections. In fact the Mathieu group confirmed that the immune system functioned in the mice following treatment. Their study provides a promising step towards the ability to reverse type I diabetes, as well as other autoimmune disorders, without incurring adverse side effects.
### TITLE:
Reversal of autoimmune diabetes by restoration of antigen-specific tolerance using genetically modified Lactococcus lactis in mice
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Chantal Mathieu
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, , BEL
Phone: 32 (16) 346023; Fax: 32 (16) 330718; E-mail: chantal.mathieu@uzleuven.be END
Moving towards a better treatment for autoimmune diabetes
2012-04-10
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JCI early table of contents for April 9, 2012
2012-04-10
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Moving toward a better treatment for autoimmune diabetes
Insulin is required for the regulation of blood sugar levels. In type I diabetes, the cells that produce insulin are destroyed by the immune system. Chantal Mathieu and colleagues at the University of Leuven have attempted to circumvent this response by taking advantage of the fact that the immune system accepts foreign gut bacteria. The Mathieu group engineered gut bacteria so that they produce a form of insulin, and asked if these bacteria could retrain the immune system in mice with type I diabetes ...
Countries' economy, health-care system linked to cholesterol rates
2012-04-10
People with a history of high cholesterol who come from higher income countries or countries with lower out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, as well as those from countries with high performing healthcare systems, defined using World Health Organization (WHO) indices, tend to have lower subsequent cholesterol rates, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
"We found that patients living in countries in the highest third of gross national income or WHO health system achievement and performance/efficiency indices had a significantly ...
Study examines adherence to colorectal cancer screening recommendations
2012-04-10
CHICAGO – Patients for whom colonoscopy was recommended were less likely to complete colorectal cancer screening than those patients for whom fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) was recommended or those patients who were given a choice between FOBT or colonoscopy, according to a study published in the April 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent condition that can be diagnosed through screening and treated during an asymptomatic phase to prevent the morbidity and mortality associated with the unscreened ...
Persistent ocular tremors appear to be associated with Parkinson disease
2012-04-10
CHICAGO – Persistent ocular tremors that prevent eye stability during fixation appear to be common among patients with Parkinson disease (PD) suggesting that precise oculomotor testing could provide an early physiological biomarker for diagnosing PD, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology, a JAMA Network publication.
"Although a number of studies describe various oculomotor abnormalities in subjects with PD, conflicts about the specific deficits remain," writes George T. Gitchel, M.S., of the Southeast Parkinson's Disease Research, Education, ...
Study reports 2-year outcomes of diabetic macular edema treatment
2012-04-10
CHICAGO – A randomized controlled trial involving patients with persistent clinically significant diabetic macular edema (swelling of the retina) suggests the greater efficacy of bevacizumab compared with macular laser therapy that was previously demonstrated at 12 months was maintained through 24 months, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Ophthalmology, a JAMA Network publication.
Modified Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) macular laser therapy (MLT) has been the mainstay of treatment for clinically significant diabetic macular ...
MU researchers find identical DNA codes in different plant species
2012-04-10
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Analyzing massive amounts of data officially became a national priority recently when the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced the Big Data Research and Development Initiative. A multi-disciplinary team of University of Missouri researchers rose to the big data challenge when they solved a major biological question by using a groundbreaking computer algorithm to find identical DNA sequences in different plant and animal species.
"Our algorithm found identical sequences of DNA located at completely different places on multiple ...
Changes in monkeys' social status affect their genes
2012-04-10
DURHAM, N.C. -- A female's social status affects how her genes turn on and off, and those who rank higher tend to be healthier -- so long as their social status doesn't decline, according to a study of rhesus macaques published in the April 9 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study is the first to use an experimental approach to observe how gene expression patterns across a range of genes correlate with an animal's social dominance. It estimates that gene expression can predict the social status of an individual with 80 percent accuracy.
"Our study ...
Social stress that molds monkey immune system helps researchers understand how stress affects humans
2012-04-10
If a monkey's social status changes, her immune system changes along with it say researchers who conducted the study with rhesus macaques at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. This finding may have implications for how the stress of low socioeconomic status affects human health and how individuals' bodies adapt after a shift in their social environment. The results are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
Researchers led by Jenny Tung, PhD, say they can predict a rhesus macaque's rank within a small group ...
2 genetic deletions in human genome linked to the development of aggressive prostate cancer
2012-04-10
NEW YORK (April 9, 2012 ) -- An international research team led by Weill Cornell Medical College investigators have discovered two inherited-genetic deletions in the human genome linked to development of aggressive prostate cancer. The findings, published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), indicate a man's risk of developing prostate cancer either triples or quadruples, depending on the genetic variant they inherit.
In the study, one genetic deletion is shown to affect the functioning of a known gene, while the other, found ...
Diet may treat some gene mutations
2012-04-10
BETHESDA, MD -- April 9, 2012 -- Scientists have moved a step closer to correcting some unhealthy gene mutations with diet, according to a new research report appearing in the April 2012 issue of the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org/). Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, determined variations and responses to vitamin treatment in the human cystathionine beta synthase gene, which when defective, causes the disease homocystinuria, an inherited metabolic disorder sometimes treatable with vitamin B6. After the analysis, scientists correlated specific ...