Danish researchers found that increased antibiotic use may be tied to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Although most doctors agree that obesity, genetics and inactivity play a role in the development of diabetes, health professionals have yet to discover the true cause.

A new study illustrates that Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the metabolic disease, may be linked to antibiotic use.

According to Danish researchers, antibiotics may negatively influence gut bacteria, which would impact the body’s natural glucose tolerance and management abilities.

The Study

The frequent overprescription of antibiotics could play a role in the widespread issues such as insulin sensitivity and weight gain.
Image: Biotiful Dairy

In 2013 it was estimated that over 382 million people throughout the world had diabetes. About 90 percent of cases are diagnosed as type 2.

The study, a population-based case-control analysis, was published in the  Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. The research was conducted from Jan. 1, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2012. Data was pulled from the Danish National Registry of Patients, the Danish National Prescription Registry and the Danish Person Registry.

In 2012, Danish researchers conducted a correlational study that included 170,504 patients with Type 2 diabetes. The researchers matched these cases with 1,364,008 control subjects without diabetes. Through government databases, researchers analyzed the amount of times the participants used antibiotics for the last 13 years.

The researchers compared the health of patients who didn’t use antibiotics with those who did. Patients who filled two to four prescriptions had a 23 percent higher risk for diabetes, whereas those who filled five or more had a 53 percent higher risk for developing the disease.

The Conclusion

A definite link between antibiotics and diabetes has not yet been confirmed despite a clear correlation in the study. Researchers will continue to learn about the effects of antibiotics on the gut and metabolism.
Image:Raw Story

The research concludes that insulin sensitivity may be caused by how the body reacts to antibiotics. Antibiotics may disrupt the natural flora in the gut, which could influence the metabolization of glucose.

Gut flora is part of a complex community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. It is an important part of human health.

“In animal studies, antibiotic treatment has been shown to affect glucose and insulin metabolism,” said the lead author, Dr. Kristian Hallundbaek Mikkelsen of the Center for Diabetes Research at Gentofte Hospital in Copenhagen.

“What we see in animals may be happening in people, and if so, then there are more good reasons to be strict about antibiotic prescription policy,” she said.

Researchers made sure to note that reverse causation could be a potential reason for the correlation between developing diabetes and using antibiotics. Reverse causation posits that people with diabetes or people at high risk of developing diabetes may already be taking more antibiotics than others.

Although reverse causation is a possibility, the increased risk was visible up to 15 years before a diabetes diagnosis. According to the study, the results call for new investigations of the long-term effect of antibiotics on lipid and glucose metabolism and weight gain.

“In particular, we suggest investigation of commonly used narrow-spectrum penicillins because these drugs are frequently prescribed and showed the highest OR for type 2 diabetes risk,” the study said.

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An unlikely culprit has mutated fish into becoming transgendered.

Scientists have discovered that transgendered fish in freshwater systems worldwide have been mutated by an unlikely culprit.

Studies show that these fish have been physically mutated by Metformin, an oral medication prescribed to regulate blood sugar in patients with type II diabetes.

Rebecca Klaper, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, studied the chemical contaminants in Lake Michigan, where she found the amount of metformin to be particularly prevalent.

According to her research, the fish exposed to metformin developed intersex structures, with the hormones for female egg reproduction occurring in males. Also, the exposed fish had a body size that was reportedly smaller than normal.

Intersex fish are commonly found downstream near wastewater treatment plants, where hormone-altering chemicals are prevalent. The mutated fish were exposed to a contaminant amount similar to what is found in wastewater effluent, or the “liquid waste or sewage discharged into a river or the sea.”

In this instance, the amount of metformin was more prominent than other chemicals found in the freshwater sample. Researchers found this unusual because metformin is primarily prescribed for diabetes care, not hormone-related conditions.

However, metformin has another use. It can be prescribed to women with polycystic ovary syndrome, which is a disease that causes enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the edges.

Science Blogs

This means the drug could be an endocrine disruptor, which causes physical changes that can also affect the human body. Endocrine disruptors confuse the body’s complex hormone messaging system. They can cause cancer, behavioral issues, immune suppression, reproductive abnormalities, birth defects and other symptoms.

Klaper will focus on studying genome changes caused by the drug in order to better understand the intersex mutations in the fish. Scientists are continuing to investigate the negative effects that metformin could have on wildlife and the environment.

“We’re now working on a paper that investigates the metabolic pathways at various points in the fishes’ life to see what is changing with exposure,” Klaper said in an article from Science Daily.

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