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The sweet thing about Type 1 diabetes: a cryoprotective evolutionary adaptation
S Moalem1, K B Storey, M E Percy
1Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Box 1134, New York, NY 10029, USA. sharon.moalem@mssm.edu
Medical Hypotheses
|May 17, 2005
Summary
Type 1 diabetes may have evolved as a survival advantage in cold climates, with elevated glucose and glycerol acting as natural antifreeze. Modern medicine reveals its detrimental effects as life expectancy increased.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Human physiology
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) exhibits uneven global distribution, with higher prevalence in Northern Europe.
- Animal studies suggest elevated glucose and glycerol derivatives serve as cryoprotectants for cold adaptation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To hypothesize that genetic factors predisposing to T1DM were selected as an adaptive trait for cold climates.
- To propose a new framework for evolutionary selection, including environmental factors.
Main Methods:
- Review of epidemiological data on T1DM distribution.
- Analysis of animal research on cryoprotective mechanisms.
- Hypothetical modeling of evolutionary selection pressures.
Main Results:
- Factors leading to elevated glucose and glycerol may have provided a survival advantage against extreme cold in ancestral populations.
- This cryoprotective adaptation could have been crucial during past climate shifts like the Younger Dryas.
Conclusions:
- Genetic predispositions for T1DM might represent an evolutionary adaptation to cold environments, termed environmental pathogenic selection (EnPS).
- The concept of epidemic pathogenic selection (EPS) should be expanded to include non-organismal environmental factors.
- The deleterious effects of T1DM have become more apparent with increased modern life expectancy.