Intestinal flora: New perspective of type 2 diabetes

Core Tip

Core Tip: With the global prevalence of diabetes continuing to rise, China faces a particularly high burden, with diabetes and its complications affecting up to 10% of the population. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) constitutes over 90% of these cases. While insulin remains the primary treatment for T2DM, its efficacy is limited in addressing the chronic, progressive, low-grade inflammatory, and the simple reduction of exogenous blood glucose can no longer meet the control of diabetes and its complications, nature of the disease. Consequently, there is an urgent need to identify safe and effective new therapeutic avenues. This letter corroborates the significance of intestinal flora in T2DM, as asserted by Li and Guo. It briefly outlines the role of intestinal flora in T2DM through insights from both animal experiments and clinical studies. Additionally, it discusses the potential clinical applications and challenges associated with targeting intestinal flora as therapeutic targets.