New Research Shows Gut Bacteria of Diabetics Different Than Healthy: Opens door for Prebiotics as option. 

Populations in the gut of diabetics differ from non-diabetics, says a new study from Denmark that may open up a potential role for modifying gut microflora with probiotics and prebiotics to improve health.

The study, published in the open-access peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, indicates that type-2 diabetes in humans is associated with compositional changes in intestinal microbiota.

That's important because we know that prebiotics are able to reshape and change the gut microbiota, in theory providing a way to prevent or even reverse the gut bacteria imbalance now associated with type-2 diabetes. The study included 36 male adults with a broad range of age and body-mass indices (BMIs), among which 18 subjects were diagnosed with diabetes type 2. 

The study is built on earlier research linking gut microflora and obesity: A breakthrough paper published in Nature in December 2006 reported that microbial populations in the gut are different between obese and lean people.