In 229,025 adults, hundreds of gut bacteria lined up with type 2 diabetes before standard glucose tests changed

What the research found

Study (observational). Gabriel Baldanzi, Nicola Segata, and colleagues, including Tim Spector, analysed gut DNA and health records from 229,025 adults in the United Kingdom and the United States (73.8% women; average age 50) for the EASD meeting in Milan (Medical Xpress 27 September 2026). Of them, 3,627 had type 2 diabetes, 14,022 had prediabetes, and 211,376 had normal glucose measures. After accounting for age, sex, and BMI, 789 bacterial species were associated with type 2 diabetes: 168 more abundant and 621 less abundant. Enterocloster bolteae was more abundant. Romboutsia timonensis was less abundant. Some of the species have never been grown in a lab. The pattern was stronger in people on diabetes medication and was also present in unmedicated diabetes. Of the 789 species, 587 were also associated with unmedicated prediabetes. Among 135,093 people with normal standard glucose tests, those whose blood sugar stayed high longer after a meal were more likely to carry the diabetes-linked pattern. The authors say a microbiome readout should not replace HbA1c or a glucose tolerance test. This is not a diet that was assigned, and it does not show that changing bacteria prevents diabetes. Educational notes.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

Read the original at University of Trento / EASD via Medical Xpress