Air pollution increases the risk of diabetes in adults. A new study from the University Hospital Zurich and the University of Basel shows how diesel particles in the guts of mice trigger a response that contributes to the onset of type 2 diabetes.
“It has long been known that more people get diabetes in places with a lot of air pollution,” said study leader Claudia Cavelti-Weder on Thursday. She is a senior physician and endocrinologist at the University Hospital Zurich.
Exact mechanism still unclear
However, the exact mechanisms by which air pollution causes so-called type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes) are not yet fully understood. Cavelti-Weder’s research team investigated how diesel particles affect the intestines. The results are published in the journal Particle and Fiber Toxicology.
“The gut is often not considered when it comes to air pollution,” says Cavelti-Weder. Air pollution also plays a role in the gut. Because our body has an advanced cleaning mechanism that keeps certain particles away from the lungs. So-called cilia transport dirt particles to the throat. Part of it ends up in the intestines when swallowed.
Changes in macrophages in the gut
The researchers administered either diesel particles or a neutral control substance to mice for a period of up to ten months. They found that mice exposed to diesel particles showed changes in the so-called macrophages in the gut.
Macrophages are scavenger cells that are part of the innate immune system and perform an important defense function. An inflammatory factor released by the altered macrophages has been linked to impaired glucose tolerance, a precursor to diabetes.
The findings could potentially provide new pharmacological approaches for treating diabetes-like illnesses caused by air pollutants, the scientists write. However, further studies are needed first.
Source: Krone
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