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Scientists
at ARS’s Western Human Nutrition Research Center have determined that
some component of table grapes can prevent progression of type 1
diabetes in mice and increase their survival. (D456-1)
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Can Phytochemicals Help Prevent Diabetes?
In related research, Zunino, working with Storms and
Charles Stephensen, a physiologist at the Davis research center,
determined for the first time that some component of table grapes
prevented the progression of type 1 diabetes in mice and increased
their survival. That was in contrast to diabetic mice that were not fed
grapes.
Scientists provided the fruit in the form of a
freeze-dried powder made from table grapes, the kind sold fresh in the
produce section of supermarkets. The powder, provided by the California
Table Grape Commission, made up 1 percent of the chow fed to some of
the mice. That’s the human equivalent of about six servings of grapes
per day.
Zunino’s experiment apparently is the first to show a
link between eating grapes and preventing progression of type 1
diabetes. If the results from this study of 30 laboratory mice hold
true for humans, the research could offer new options for protection
against this chronic autoimmune disease.
According to the National Institutes of Health, an
estimated 1 in every 400-600 children and adolescents in the U.S.
population has type 1 diabetes.
Right now, the researchers don’t know which grape
compounds provided the protective effect. Similarly, the exact sequence
of steps that led to the protection is also not yet proven. But the
scientists think that the grape phytochemicals may have prevented
unwanted entry of immune cells into the pancreas.
Mice fed the grape powder had fewer immune cells in the
pancreas than did the other mice in the experiment. But what’s the
relation between immune cells in the pancreas and type 1 diabetes?
Immune cells in the pancreas can mistakenly attack
specialized cells known as “beta cells.” Beta cells produce insulin,
which is needed to help regulate the amount of sugar in the
bloodstream. If immune cells in the pancreas attack and kill beta
cells, the pancreas can run out of beta cells. When that happens, type
1 diabetes can result.
People with type 1 diabetes have to carefully monitor
the amounts of sugar-containing foods they eat, including sweet, fresh
table grapes. How ironic that this luscious fruit might actually hold a
key to preventing the progression of type 1 diabetes. This may be a
perplexing riddle of Nature—perhaps one that Zunino’s team will soon
solve.—By Marcia Wood, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.
This research is part of Human Nutrition, an ARS national program (#107) described on the World Wide Web at www.nps.ars.usda.gov.
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,
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, and
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are at the USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center,
430 W. Health Sciences Dr., Davis, CA 95616; phone (530) 752-5156
[Zunino], (530) 754-5193 [Storms], (530) 754-9266 [Stephensen], fax
(530) 752-5271.
"How Plants Protect Us: Unmasking the Secret Power of Phytochemicals" was published in the March 2008 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
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