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Type 1 Diabetes May Be Triggered By Bacterial Infections ... - Yahoo
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Many people who are genetically predisposed to type 1 diabetes never get the disease, hinting at an unknown environmental trigger could play a role in the development of this chronic autoimmune condition.
While some speculate the trigger could be a virus, a new study led by researchers from Cardiff University in the UK points in a different direction: Type 1 diabetes might start with proteins on bacteria, sparking an ominous shift in the immune system.
"Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that usually affects children and young adults, where the cells that produce insulin are attacked by the patient's own immune system," explains lead author Andrew Sewell, an immunologist at Cardiff University's School of Medicine.
"This leads to a lack of insulin, meaning that people living with type 1 diabetes need to inject insulin multiple times a day to control their blood sugar levels," he says.
Insulin helps glucose move from the bloodstream into our cells, which use it for energy. It's a vital hormone produced by beta cells in the pancreas, and without it, the body's blood sugar can surge to dangerously high levels.
In previous research, Sewell and his colleagues linked the loss of insulin-producing tissues with killer T cells – a class of white blood cells that kill certain other cells, including cancer cells or cells infected by a pathogen. Killer T cells seem to play a key role in causing type 1 diabetes by killing beta cells.
In the new study, the researchers found that killer T cells begin doing this when activated by bacterial proteins; specifically proteins from bacteria known to infect humans, like Klebsiella oxytoca.
The team conducted lab experiments to simulate such infections, introducing bacterial proteins to cell lines from non-diabetic human donors and observing how the donors' killer T cells reacted.
"We found that after encountering proteins from some infectious bacteria, killer T cells could mistakenly also kill cells producing the insulin protein," Sewell says.
"We found activated T cells with this same 'cross-reactivity' in the blood of patients with type 1 diabetes," he adds, "suggesting that what we saw in laboratory experiments could have triggered the disease."
Strong interaction with bacterial proteins apparently initiated this change in killer T cells' behavior, notes Lucy Jones, the chief clinical investigator for the study at the Cardiff University School of Medicine.
The team observed this in relation to a gene for a protein on our own cells called a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) which allows our immune system to tell our own tissues apart from intruders.
"The specific HLA associated with the bacterial infection that triggers diabetes is only present in around 3 percent of the population in the UK," Jones says. "So the bacterial pathogens that can generate anti-insulin T cells are caused by a rare infection in a small minority of people."
By demystifying the origins of type 1 diabetes, the researchers say, we may reveal new ways to treat the disease – or maybe even learn how to prevent it.
"We hope that understanding how T cells trigger diseases like type 1 diabetes will allow us to diagnose and treat disease before the onset of symptoms," says Garry Dolton, an immunologist at the Cardiff University School of Medicine.
"Early treatment is known to result in a better prognosis as the healthy pancreatic beta cells that are being attacked can be protected before they are destroyed," Dolton says.
"There is currently no cure for type 1 diabetes and patients require life-long treatment," Sewell notes.
"People living with type 1 diabetes may also develop medical complications later in life, so there is an urgent need to understand the underlying causes of the condition to help us find better treatments."
The study was published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Related NewsFlesh-eating Bacteria Infections Climb With Rising Water Temperatures — How To Stay Safe
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the potentially deadly bacteria thrive in coastal waters during warmer months—especially in brackish waters, where fresh water meets the sea.
You can get a Vibrio vulnificus infection when contaminated water enters the body through an open cut or skin wound. The infection can also occur from eating contaminated raw or undercooked seafood.
RELATED: Flesh-eating bacteria kills 5th person in Florida, infections surge to 20 cases
Cases of the so-called "flesh-eating" bacteria were once largely confined to the Gulf Coast. However, the CDC says cases along the East Coast surged from 1998 to 2018, rising by 800%.
The risk for Vibrio infections has also spread farther north as water temperatures increase due to climate change.
RELATED: HHS confirmed the first case of flesh-eating screwworm detected in the U.S.
According to the CDC, about one in five people who contract the infection die.
How to protect yourself from Vibrio vulnificus, the bacteria found in some coastal watersNEW YORK (AP) — States are warning beachgoers about a summertime surge in infections from a frightening, flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters.
Vibrio vulnificus are becoming an annual threat along the Gulf Coast and — increasingly — up the Eastern Seaboard.
People should listen to the warnings, said Bernie Stewart, a 65-year-old retired bounty hunter in Florida who counts himself lucky to have survived an infection.
In August 2019, Stewart's right leg was infected while he was kayak fishing in Pensacola Bay. What at first appeared to be a sun blister led to three months in the hospital, where doctors performed 10 surgeries to remove decaying skin and prevent the bacteria from killing him.
"This ain't nothing to play with," Stewart said.
Vibrio bacteria thrive in seawater and in the mix of fresh and saltwater found in estuaries and lagoons. Most infections are reported from May to October, and most happen in states along the Gulf Coast.
The Gulf's water is "the perfect convergence of the right amount of salt and the right amount of heat to let this organism proliferate," said Dr. Fred Lopez, an infectious diseases specialist at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.
At least a dozen kinds of Vibrio can cause human illnessesThe nastiest type is Vibrio vulnificus. It accounts for around 200 of the more than 1,000 Vibrio illnesses each year, according to CDC data.
As many as 1 in 5 of those infections are fatal — a much higher rate than other types of Vibrio bacteria.
Some people become infected by eating eat raw or undercooked shellfish — particularly oysters. But a large percentage fall ill when the person is in ocean or brackish water and the bacteria enter the body through small breaks in the skin.
The antibiotics used to treat food poisoning cases don't work as well when the germ enters through breaks in the skin, Lopez said.
"They may require multiple surgeries to remove dead or infected tissue, and sometimes require amputation," he said.
Doctors say severe cases are seen more often in elderly patients, people with weakened immune systems, and those with liver disease, diabetes and certain chronic illnesses.
How to prevent infectionsVibrio vulnificus can enter the body through unhealed cuts and scrapes, recent piercings and tattoos, and recent surgical incisions. If you have such a wound, try to stay out of saltwater or brackish water, and cover it with a waterproof bandage if there's a chance of exposure.
If you do come in contact with coastal waters or raw seafood, immediately wash cuts and scrapes thoroughly with soap and clean running water, the CDC advises.
And see a doctor if you start to develop symptoms such as fever, chills, and hot red areas on the skin that start to turn dark and blister.
You can also become infected by eating seafood. Health officials say not to eat raw or undercooked oysters or other seafood, and do not let raw seafood, its drippings, or its juices contaminate other foods.
Oysters are a particular risk, and there is no way to tell if an oyster is contaminated just by looking at it.
Wash hands with soap and water after handing raw shellfish, and wear protective gloves if you have a weakened immune system and are at a higher risk of infection.
Health officials also offer cooking instructions for clams, mussels and other shellfish. They recommend throwing away any with open shells before cooking.
In Pensacola, Stewart said he's advocated — unsuccessfully — for local officials to post signs about the dangers of going into the bay.
"Not everyone's immune system is going to be strong," he said.
Why Fatal 'Flesh-Eating' Bacteria Infections Are On The Rise
Fatal infections from "flesh-eating" bacteria Vibrio vulnificus are on the rise, with eight deaths and dozens more cases already this year, and experts warn that climate change is in part to blame.
"Available data indicates that infections are indeed on the rise, particularly in the Gulf Coast and surrounding regions," Antarpreet Jutla, a professor and director of the USGS FL Water Resources Research Center, and director of the GeoHealth and Hydrology Laboratory at the University of Florida, told Newsweek.
"Climate change is likely a major reason," R. Sean Norman, a professor and director of the Molecular Microbial Ecology Laboratory in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of South Carolina, told Newsweek.
Why It MattersThe deadly bacteria thrives in coastal regions where millions of Americans head for holidays, and with sea temperatures rising, an increase in severe storms, and other environmental changes linked to climate change, experts fear that the number of Vibrio vulnificus infections each year will only continue to rise.
What Is Vibrio Vulnificus?Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium the Vibrio family, that is often labeled "flesh-eating" for its ability to cause severe and sometimes fatal tissue damage.
Around 150 to 200 Vibrio vulnificus infections are reported to the CDC a year, with about one in five cases being fatal.
Vibrio bacteria live in coastal waters, including salt water and brackish water, a mixture of salt water and fresh water. While most people get infected with Vibrio by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters, some may get infected when an open wound is exposed to salt water or brackish water containing Vibrio, which is how people can become infected with Vibrio vulnificus.
Symptoms of Vibrio vulnificus wound infections include redness, swelling, fever and others, while bloodstream infections can result in fever, dangerously low blood pressure and blistering.
Vibrio vulnificus infections can lead to serious and life-threatening complications, such as if flesh around an infected wound dies.
While anyone can get infected, those with weakened immune systems, chronic liver, kidney, or heart disease, cancer, or diabetes, or individuals with fresh wounds are most at risk.
Newsweek Illustration/Getty The Impact of Climate ChangeRita Colwell, a microbiologist and marine scientist at the University of Maryland College Park and former director of the National Science Foundation, agreed the incidence of Vibrio vulnificus infections is "definitely on the rise," and is well documented along the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern coastal regions of the Eastern United States.
Jutla said that several factors are contributing to this increase, such as increasing sea surface temperatures. "Warmer waters create more favorable conditions for Vibrio proliferation," he said.
Colwell also said that the "warming of the oceans related to climate change is playing a direct role in this public health threat as warmer temperatures are selective for growth of Vibrios, bacteria that are a natural component of the microbial communities in aquatic ecosystems."
She added that her research team has "clearly shown an increase in reported Vibrio vulnificus infections moving northward, as the coastal water temperatures have been gradually rising along the East Coast as far as Connecticut and Rhode Island, where cases and deaths were reported very recently."
The warming sea temperatures have an enhancing effect on the prevalence of Vibrio bacteria because "this bacteria thrives in warm, salty, or brackish water, and as ocean temperatures increase, it can survive for more of the year and spread to new areas," Norman said.
Alongside increasing sea temperatures, "more frequent and intense storms can also wash extra nutrients into the water, creating ideal conditions for Vibrio to grow," he said.
"In short, warmer waters and more nutrients mean more Vibrio, and a higher risk for people swimming or coming into contact with coastal waters," he added.
Other factors impacting the prevalence of the bacteria include enhanced planktonic activity, Jutla said, as Vibrio "often associates with plankton, and increased plankton blooms may support larger bacterial populations."
Nutrient runoff from land could be another piece of the puzzle, Jutla said, as "agricultural and urban runoff may enrich coastal waters, further promoting microbial growth."
"Given these trends, it's reasonable to expect that the risk of encountering Vibrio vulnificus in certain coastal waters—especially during warmer months—will continue to grow," he said. "This underscores the importance of public awareness and preventive measures."
Cases of Vibrio Vulnificus Infections This YearThe eight deaths happened across Florida and Louisiana, with four in each state. Nine other states have also had cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections, according to the news outlet today.Com.
Newsweek has contacted the CDC via email for the latest data on Vibrio vulnificus infections.
Per the outlet, in total, there have been 60 confirmed cases of the infection caused by the bacteria in the U.S. This year.
The 60 cases of confirmed Vibrio vulnificus infections this year spread across the 11 following states:
Recent years have seen infections and deaths rise following extreme storms and during periods of elevated water temperatures.
Vibrio vulnificus infections have been associated with storms and hurricanes, with the Florida Department of Health noticing a "notable increase" in cases after Hurricane Ian, with 38 cases and 11 vibriosis-associated deaths reported, according to the CDC.
Between July and August 2023, above-average coastal sea surface temperatures and widespread heat waves were linked to several East Coast states—New York, Connecticut and North Carolina—reporting severe and even fatal cases of the infection.
In 2024, Florida had a record 82 cases and 19 deaths, a surge health officials linked to hurricane-induced flooding and warm coastal waters.
Studies have indicated that between 1988 and 2018 in eastern America, Vibrio vulnificus wound infections increased eightfold, while the northern geographic range of infections has increased 48 kilometers per year, the CDC reported.
Where in 2019, 26 states reported 159 cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections, and in 2014, 124 cases where reported. In 2011, meanwhile, 113 cases were reported.
In order to protect yourself from infection with the bacteria, there are a number of things you can do.
These measures include avoiding contact with salt or brackish water if you have open wounds, thoroughly cooking all shellfish and using waterproof bandages on wounds if exposure is likely.
Showering and washing with soap after swimming, and promptly washing wounds exposed to coastal water is also important, as is washing hands and surfaces after handling raw seafood.
Update 8/11/25, 9:02 a.M. ET: This article has been updated with additional data.
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