metabolic disturbances in early childhood...

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The research used metabolomics, the systematic study of the chemical

" fingerprints " in cells, tissues, and biofluids, taking into account both

physiology

and the environment

Finn Researchers Find That Early Childhood Metabolic Disturbances Predict

Later Onset of Type 1

22 December 2008

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Finnish scientists have reported that children who develop type 1 diabetes

experience disturbances in their lipid and amino acid metabolism months or

years

before the onset of the disease. Their finding of distinct markers that

precede the disease could lead to treatments designed to prevent the body's

autoimmune

system from attacking the pancreatic insulin-producing cells.

Before the scientists published their study in the December 15, 2008, issue

of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the earliest reliable indicators of

potential type 1 had been islet autoantibodies, which show up as the body

begins to make an autoimmune assault on pancreatic beta cells.

Unfortunately,

although their appearance can precede full-blown type 1 by months or years,

islet autoantibodies sometimes fail to materialize until it's already too

late

to intervene with preventive therapies.

The Finns found that people who develop type 1 are born with reduced serum

levels of succinic acid and phosphatidylcholine. Later, they experience

reduced

levels of triglycerides and antioxidant ether phospholipids. Several months

before developing immunity to their own pancreatic beta cells, they

experience

increased levels of lysophosphatidylcholines-a kind of acid-that produce

inflammation.

Because the sequence and agents involved are so clear, the scientists hope

to eventually develop preventive strategies based on them. Their research

used

metabolomics, the systematic study of the chemical " fingerprints " in cells,

tissues, and biofluids, taking into account both physiology and the

environment.

Because a person's metabolism can be affected by age, lifestyle, food, and

intestinal microbes, plotting their effects could lead to changes or

adjustments

that stave off type 1.

Finnish interest in diabetes is a response to that country's high incidence

of type 1: One out of every 120 Finnish children develops the disease, and

the

rate of incidence is increasing yearly. The country is expecting the number

of new cases to double in the next 15 years.

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