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Type 1 Diabetes May Be Triggered By Bacterial Infections, Scientists Find
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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 NewsCan Heart Attacks Be Contagious? Study Suggests Bacterial Infections May Trigger Heart Attacks - What You Need To Know
New research suggests bacteria may play a role in triggering heart attacks. Learn how infections could be linked to heart disease risk and what this means for prevention.Written by Muskan GuptaPublished : September 15, 2025 9:40 AM IST
Over the years, heart attacks have been associated mostly with lifestyle, including unhealthy foods, cigarettes, lack of physical activity, and stress. Physicians are also aware of how such ailments as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes can put a person at risk. However, newer studies are now suggesting the possibility that it is unexpected: might even heart attacks be bacteria-contagious to some extent?
Not all facts related to this theory have been investigated yet; however, recent discoveries have led us to believe that infections due to some forms of bacteria could be a significant factor which initiates cardiovascular conditions such as heart attacks. Simple enough, let us start dissecting it.
Heart Attacks: How Do They Occur?A heart attack occurs when the vessels of blood vessels cease to flow to a portion of the heart. It tends to happen when, over time, there is an accumulation of fatty deposits or plaque, which is present within the arteries. When a slice of plaque ruptures, a blood clot occurs, which makes blood unable to reach the heart. The death of heart muscle cells begins without the blood supply rich with oxygen, which results in a heart attack.
This is referred to as atherosclerosis, which has always been attributed to diet, physical inactivity and genes. However, at least researchers are discovering that infections might play a role, too.
The Role of BacteriaResearchers have found that bacteria may contribute to the cause or aggravation of a clogged artery. A variety of bacteria conduct one of the key suspicions, that of Chlamydia pneumoniae, which is known to cause respiratory infections like pneumonia. Research has detected this bacterium in the fatty sediments of individuals who have had heart disease.
This theory says that bacteria are able to produce persistent inflammation when they infect the body. This type of inflammation can make the walls of arteries weak and prone to rupture (plaque). Over a period, chronic and untreated infection would also increase the risk of a heart attack without noticeable indications.
Could Heart Attacks Be "Contagious"?The psychological concept of contagious heart attacks does not imply that when someone is around a heart disease patient, they will also develop it. Rather, it implies that bacterial infections that appear to be transmitted between individuals are indirect but can lead to tissue damage in the future.
As an exercise, should you have contracted any other bacterial infection, such as Chlamydia pneumoniae, through someone else, the bacterium could be lodged in your body, producing lasting inflammation. This may also increase the number of other risk factors over the years and culminate in a heart attack.
Therefore, although you cannot directly contract a heart attack, you can contract some of the infections that increase the chances.
Why This Research MattersAssuming that bacteria are indeed the cause of heart disease, it would alter how the condition is prevented and treated by doctors. One day, antibiotics or vaccines could also help decrease the risk of heart attack, in addition to more traditional options such as eating a healthy diet, exercise and smoking avoidance.
Indeed, there have been reported clinical trials to test antibiotics against the heart, but with mixed results. Further research is necessary to prove that the reduction of the heart attack risk can be really achieved through targeting bacteria.
Lifestyle Practices to Prevent Heart AttackAlthough the scientific community is still doing this research, there is no proven way of protecting your heart other than utilising the established lifestyle practices:
Although the study is in its early stages, this could advance the possibilities of getting rid of one of the major causes of death globally.
About the Author Muskan GuptaMuskan Gupta is a passionate health journalist with over 4 years of experience; she has worked with leading media organisations like ANI and India TV. Currently employed at TheHealthSite.Com under Zee Media, she brings health stories to life – covering everything ... Read More
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Obesity Increases Risk Of Severe Infection, Especially In Diabetes Patients
Losing weight can help a person with obesity -- especially those with diabetes -- fend off serious infections, new data shows. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News
Losing weight can help a person with obesity -- especially those with diabetes -- fend off serious infections, new data shows.
It's an important finding, since "up to one in three hospitalizations in people with diabetes are for infections and people with diabetes are twice as likely to be hospitalized with infections than the general population. They are also at high risk of readmission," said study co-lead author Rhian Hopkins. She's at the University of Exeter Medical School in Britain.
Hopkins presented the research Saturday in Madrid at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).
The new study used data from the ongoing UK Biobank, a database that includes health info on almost 500,000 Britons.
According to the data, about 64,000 had been hospitalized for a bacterial infection (such as a urinary tract infection or pneumonia); almost 15,000 had been hospitalized with a viral infection (such as the flu), and about 408,000 had never been hospitalized for infection.
Obesity seemed linked to a higher risk for severe infection, the team found. Every 5-point increase in BMI -- for example, from a BMI of 30 (the threshold for obesity) to 35 -- incurred a 30% rise in the risk of a serious bacterial infection and a 32% rise for severe viral infection.
These associations were for all people, regardless of whether or not they had diabetes, Hopkins noted. However, because diabetes brings higher risks for infection generally, the findings are particularly important for people with the blood sugar disease, she said.
"Infections are a major cause of death and ill health, particularly in people with diabetes," Hopkins said in a EASD news release. "Anyone admitted to hospital with a severe infection is also at high risk of being admitted again with another."
"This study demonstrates that higher BMI is a cause of hospital admission with infection," she added. "Clinicians could discuss weight-loss options for people with a high BMI at risk of severe infections and readmission to hospital for infection."
Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
Find out more about safely losing weight at the American Heart Association.
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