SCIENTISTS believe there could be links between glutenrich
foodstuffs such as bread, and the triggering of diabetes and
schizophrenia in people with a genetic predisposition to the mental
disease.
Researchers at UHI, the prospective University of the Highlands
and Islands, are pursuing the possible connections.
Two studies are being undertaken by geneticist Dr Jun Wei and his
team at the UHI n Inverness, after winning GBP300,000 of grant
funding from the Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain.
One project is exploring the links between schizophrenia and
diabetes, while the other focuses on the role of gluten in
schizophrenia and diabetes.
Gluten has long been recognised as a trigger for serious diseases
related to the gut, most notably coeliac disease.
However, it is now emerging that this dietary component might
also be associated with the incidence of other autoimmune diseases,
including schizophrenia and type one diabetes.
Professor Ian Megson, head of the UHI department, explained: "The
reason that gluten might provide a link between these apparently
quite different diseases is that, in people with a particular
genetic make-up that results in their bodies' inability to handle
gluten in the normal way, the immune system becomes unusually
active.
"In this way, cells in the blood that are designed to combat
infections begin to target healthy tissue, which can lead to
impaired function of affected organs (gut, brain or pancreas) and
disease.
"This research is at an early stage, but if the theory is correct
and those at risk are identified very early in life, a simple change
in diet might prevent these diseases developing in some
individuals."