Vitamin A Against Type 1 Diabetes?

Filed in archive Challenges , Developments , Notable , Research on December 29, 2007

In a laboratory mice study, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) nutrition scientists has shown (for the first time) that high levels of vitamin A can suppress development of type 1 diabetes.




Common dietary sources of Vitamin A are pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, carrots, among others...and then don't forget that Vitamin A supplements are abundantly available in the market.

Blood sugar levels of the 45 mice in the experiment were taken regularly to determine onset of diabetes. At about seven months, only 25 percent of those mice eating a high-vitamin-A feed, and 33 percent of those eating grape-powder-enriched feed, had developed type 1 diabetes, while 71 percent of those on non-enriched feed had became diabetic.

Differences in levels of a protein called tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or TNF-alpha, linked in other studies to type 1 diabetes, were notable. TNF-alpha production by immune cells of mice fed the vitamin A- or grape-powder-enriched feed was significantly lower than that in cells of mice fed standard feed.

Let's wait and see if the same is true in humans. At least the animal study results may potentially lead to human studies.

Find more details from the Agricultural Research Service.