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Parasitic helminths and their beneficial impact on type 1 and type 2 diabetes
Author(s) -
Berbudi Afiat,
Ajendra Jesuthas,
Wardani Ajeng P.F.,
Hoerauf Achim,
Hübner Marc P.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
diabetes/metabolism research and reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.307
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1520-7560
pISSN - 1520-7552
DOI - 10.1002/dmrr.2673
Subject(s) - hygiene hypothesis , type 2 diabetes , diabetes mellitus , helminths , immunology , immune system , incidence (geometry) , type 1 diabetes , medicine , biology , environmental health , endocrinology , physics , optics
Summary It is estimated that by the year 2035 almost 600 million people will suffer from diabetes. In the case of type 2 diabetes, the strongest increase of diabetes incidence occurs in developing and newly industrialized countries. This increase correlates not only with a progressing sedentary lifestyle and nutritional changes, but also environmental changes. Similarly, the increase of type 1 diabetes incidence in industrialized countries over the past decades cannot be explained by genetic factors alone, suggesting that environmental changes are also involved. One such environmental change is a reduced exposure to pathogens because of improved hygiene. Parasitic helminths modulate the immune system of their hosts and induce type 2 as well as regulatory immune responses. As pro‐inflammatory immune responses are crucial for the onset of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, helminth‐induced immunomodulation may prevent diabetes onset and ameliorate insulin sensitivity. Several epidemiological studies in human and experimental animal models support such a protective effect of helminths for autoimmune diabetes. Recent studies further suggest that helminths may also provide such a beneficial effect for type 2 diabetes. In this review we summarize studies that investigated parasitic helminths and helminth‐derived products and their impact on both type 1 and type 2 diabetes highlighting potential protective mechanisms. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.