Research progress in the treatment of an immune system disease-type 1 diabetes-by regulating the intestinal flora with Chinese medicine and food homologous drugs

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a specific autoimmune disease related to genetic and autoimmune factors. Recent studies have found that the intestinal flora is one of the important environmental factors in the development of T1D. The gut microbiota is the largest microbiota in the human body and has a significant impact on material and energy metabolism. Related studies have found that the intestinal floras of T1D patients are unbalanced. Compared with normal patients, the abundance of beneficial bacteria is reduced, and various pathogenic bacteria are significantly increased, affecting the occurrence and development of diabetes. Medicinal and food homologous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a multicomponent, multitarget, and biphasic regulatory effect. Its chemical composition can increase the abundance of beneficial bacteria, improve the diversity of the intestinal flora, reduce blood sugar, and achieve the purpose of preventing and treating T1D by regulating the intestinal flora and its metabolites. Therefore, based on a review of T1D, intestinal flora, and TCM derived from medicine and food, this review describes the relationship between T1D and the intestinal flora, as well as the research progress of TCM interventions for T1D through regulation of the intestinal flora. Medicine and food homologous TCM has certain advantages in treating diabetes and regulating the intestinal flora. It can be seen that there is still great research space and broad development prospects for the treatment of diabetes by regulating the intestinal flora with drug and food homologous TCM.

Keywords: beneficial bacteria; intestinal flora; mechanism; traditional Chinese medicine with same origin as medicine and food; type 1 diabetes.

Fig. 1.

Complications caused by diabetes.

Fig. 2.

Concept of homology between medicine and food. Pink: medicinal herbs; Blue: food; Orange: traditional Chinese medicine with the same origin as medicine and food.

Fig. 3.

Distribution of intestinal flora in healthy people and diabetes patients. Purple: beneficial bacteria, Other colors: pathogenic and harmful bacteria (A: healthy people, B:diabetes patients).

Fig. 4.

Comparison of intestinal epithelial barriers. On the left is the intact intestinal epithelium; on the right is the intestinal epithelium that flows out of the damaged intestinal content.

Fig. 5.

Treatment of diabetes with TCM with the same origin as medicine and food by regulating the intestinal flora. (1.TCM with same origin in medicine and food, 2. Intestinal leakage increased permeability, 3. Normal intestinal epithelial barrier tight junction).