Young children at high genetic risk for type 1 diabetes whose gut bacteria stopped maturing early had about three times the risk of developing the disease, or the immune attack that comes before it, according to a study published in Nature Metabolism. Researchers from Mass General Brigham, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health led the work, which Mass General Brigham announced on Sept. 21.
The finding is an association. It is not a diagnosis or a test parents can order, and it does not show that the gut microbiome causes type 1 diabetes. But it points to a possible early warning signal that could one day help doctors decide which high-risk children need closer monitoring.
