Probiotics ‘could lead to new diabetes treatment’

Scientists have taken important steps to creating a potential new treatment for diabetes by developing a probiotic pill, according to a new study.

Research from Cornell University – published in the journal Diabetes – has revealed that a strain of lactobacillus, a human probiotic common in the gut, can be engineered to secrete Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1).

This was administered orally to diabetic rats for 90 days and was found to lower high blood glucose by up to 30 percent.

The study was a proof of principle and future work will test higher doses to see if a complete treatment is possible, explained John March, professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University and the paper's senior author.

Research also found that upper intestinal epithelial cells in diabetic rats were changed into cells that acted similarly to pancreatic beta cells, which monitor blood glucose levels and secrete insulin.

Professor March commented: "The amount of time to reduce glucose levels following a meal is the same as in a normal rat … and it is matched to the amount of glucose in the blood, just as it would be with a normal-functioning pancreas."

He explained that it altered the centre of glucose control from the pancreas to the upper intestine in the rats.