Gluten-free diet may be beneficial in the management of type 1 diabetes

This study was posted in the Journal of Pediatrics 2000 Aug;137(2):263-5

Study title and authors:

Gluten-dependent diabetes-related and thyroid-related autoantibodies in patients with celiac disease.

Ventura A, Neri E, Ughi C, Leopaldi A, Città A, Not T.

Clinica Pediatrica e Laboratorio di Analisi, IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo" Trieste, Trieste, Italy.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10931424?dopt=Abstract

This study investigated the incidence of type 1 diabetes autoantibodies in patients with celiac disease. Diabetes autoantibodies increase the risk of devolping type 1 diabetes. The study included 90 celiac patients. 

In the general population the incidence of type 1 diabetes is around 1 in 10,000 (.01%).

The study found:

(a) 11.1% of celiac patients have type 1 diabetes autoantibodies. 

(b) The autoantibodies seemed to be gluten-dependent and tended to disappear during a gluten-free diet.

This study shows how a gluten-free diet may be beneficial in the management of type 1 diabetes.

Links to other studies:
Gluten free diet gives type 1 diabetics an improvement in quality of life, better blood sugar control, disappearance of diarrhea and an increase in the uptake of iron
Gluten-containing foods increase the risk of type 1 diabetes in children

Gluten-containing foods increase the risk of type 1 diabetes in children

This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 2003 Oct 1;290(13):1721-8

Study title and authors:
Early infant feeding and risk of developing type 1 diabetes-associated autoantibodies.

Ziegler AG, Schmid S, Huber D, Hummel M, Bonifacio E.
Diabetes Research Institute and Hospital München-Schwabing, Munich, Germany. anziegler@lrz.uni-muenchen.de

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14519706

Antibodies are proteins produced by the body. They are used by the immune system to detect and block the harmful effects of foreign substances such as viruses and bacteria.

Autoantibodies attack and damage the body's own healthy cells, tissues and organs. Islet cells in the pancreas produce the hormone insulin. If autoantibodies attack the islet cells then the production of insulin may be severely curtailed or stopped, so the presence of islet cell autoantibodies increases the risk of an individual developing type 1 diabetes.

The objective of the study was to determine whether breastfeeding duration, or age at introduction of gluten-containing foods influences the risk of developing islet autoantibodies. The study followed 1,610 newborn children of parents with type 1 diabetes for 5 years.

The study found there was a 300% rise in islet autoantibodies in children who received gluten-containing foods before the age of 3 months compared with children who received only breast milk until aged 3 months.

The study shows that introducing gluten-containing foods before the age of 3 months to children who have parents with type 1 diabetes significantly increases their risk of developing type 1 diabetes.