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    microbiota tagged posts

    How Microbiota Protects against Development of Type 1 Diabetes

    August 7, 2015, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    A pancreatic islet of Langerhans expressing the immunoregulator antimicrobial peptide CRAM (in red). The insulin-producting beta-cells are in green and the glucagon-producting alpha-cells are in blue. Credit: © Julien Diana

    A pancreatic islet of Langerhans expressing the immunoregulator antimicrobial peptide CRAM (in red). The insulin-producting beta-cells are in green and the glucagon-producting alpha-cells are in blue. Credit: © Julien Diana

    A category of antimicrobial peptides, cathelicidins and being researched by a team coordinated by Julien Diana, Inserm Research Fellow at Inserm Unit 1151 is focusing on. Apart from their protective function, these peptides have also exhibited immunoregulatory abilities against several autoimmune diseases.

    They observed that beta pancreatic cells in non-diseased mice produce cathelicidins and that, interestingly, this production is impaired in diabetic mice...

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    How Loss of Bacterial Symbionts Promotes Development of Allergies & acts on Immune System Balance

    July 13, 2015, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology


      
    The presence of microbes specifically blocks the immune cells responsible for triggering allergies. It is well known the microbiota is involved in many mechanisms, including digestion, vitamin synthesis and host defense.The hygiene hypothesis suggests a link between a decline in infectious diseases and increase in allergic diseases in industrialized countries. Improvements in hygiene levels lead to reduced contact with microbes that is paralleled by an increased incidence in allergic and autoimmune diseases, eg type 1 diabetes.

    Epidemiological studies have substantiated this hypothesis, by showing children living with farm animals – and thus with more microbial agents – develop fewer allergies during their lifetime...

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