The diabetes prone BB rat model of IDDM shows duration of breastfeeding to influence Type 1 diabetes development later in life

Abstract

Besides genetic background, environmental factors such as food ingredients and viral infections have been indicated as important and possibly decisive elements for the induction of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Our data show that diabetes development in diabetes-prone (DP)-BB rats can be delayed and prevented by prolonging the nursing period of these rats. These results provide experimental evidence strengthening human epidemiological data that the duration of exclusive breastfeeding influences diabetes development later in life.Most human epidemiological data suggest that a short, as opposed to a long, duration of exclusive breastfeeding is related with an increased risk for IDDM development [1,2,3,4,5]. The introduction of cow's milk and wheat proteins at a young age has been suggested as potential diabetogenic risk factors for infants at risk of developing diabetes [1,2,3,4,5]. The importance of food ingredients in IDDM is further illustrated by the fact that the development of diabetes is reduced in DP-BB rats receiving a special diet in which hydrolysed casein is the sole source of protein [6]. Since, in epidemiological studies the period of nursing is established using questionnaires, the exact duration of breastfeeding remains unclear and duration of breastfeeding varies considerably between the siblings [1,2,3,4,5]. DP-BB rats normally spontaneously develop diabetes between 60 and 160 days of age and are used as an animal model for the study of Type 1 diabetes. In the DP-BB rat model for the study of diabetes, the period of suckling can be established precisely. To investigate whether a relation exists between the duration of exclusive breastfeeding and the onset of diabetes

Prolonged exclusive breastfeeding reduces autoimmune diabetes incidence and increases regulatory T‐cell frequency in bio‐breeding diabetes‐prone rats

“…Autoimmune diabetes incidence of the different treatment groups Figure 1 shows that prolonged exclusive breastfeeding (until 31 days) partially protected against autoimmune diabetes development, confirming our previous report [8]. Rats that received exclusive prolonged breastfeeding followed by a conventional rodent diet displayed an autoimmune diabetes incidence of 46%, compared to 84-89% in the other groups (p < 0.05, log rank test).…”

“…Furthermore, human studies are limited in their analysis of the actual effects of diet supplementation and breastfeeding on the (mucosal) immune system. Previously, we have shown that prolonging the exclusive (only breast milk) suckling period in bio-breeding diabetes-prone (BBDP) rats, a rat model that develops autoimmune diabetes spontaneously, decreases the autoimmune diabetes incidence from 80 to 40% [8].…”

Tight Junctions, Intestinal Permeability, and Autoimmunity

“…Interestingly, these animal models of T1D also showed that the moment of exposure to wheat proteins is important for the development of T1D. Delaying the exposure to diabetogenic wheat proteins by prolonging the breastfeeding period reduced T1D development in the BBDP rats 41 . Furthermore, exposing neonatal rats or mice to diabetogenic wheat components or bacterial antigens reduced T1D incidence, which is probably due to the induction of immunological tolerance 36,39,42 …”

“…Delaying the exposure to diabetogenic wheat proteins by prolonging the breastfeeding period reduced T1D development in the BBDP rats. 41 Furthermore, exposing neonatal rats or mice to diabetogenic wheat components or bacterial antigens reduced T1D incidence, which is probably due to the induction of immunological tolerance. 36,39,42 Rats that were fed wheat protein-based diets develop T1D and display a mild celiaclike enteropathy.…”