The largest and most ethnically and geographically comprehensive investigation to date of the gut microbiome of people with type 2 diabetes (T2D), prediabetes, and healthy glucose status has found that specific viruses and genetic variants within bacteria correspond with changes in gut microbiome function and T2D risk. Results of the study—which represents a collaboration across Brigham and Women’s Hospital (a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system), the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—are published in Nature Medicine.

“The microbiome is highly variable across different geographic locations and racial and ethnic groups. If you only study a small, homogeneous population, you will probably miss something,” said co-corresponding author Daniel (Dong) Wang, of the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Broad, and Harvard Chan School. “Our study is by far the largest and most diverse study of its kind.”

“The gut microbiome’s relationship to complex, chronic, heterogeneous diseases like T2D is quite subtle,” said co-corresponding author Curtis Huttenhower, of Harvard Chan School and Broad. “Much like studies of large human populations have been crucial for understanding human genetic variation, large and diverse populations are necessary—and increasingly feasible—for detailed microbiome variation studies as well.”

Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/study-links-gut-microbiome-changes-to-increased-risk-of-type-2-diabetes/