Dr. Randall Basaraba

Researchers at the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences were recently awarded grants from both the American Diabetes Association and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to investigate the interactions between diabetes and tuberculosis.

The grants, totaling $700,000 over the next three years, were awarded to Dr. Randall Basaraba, an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology; and graduate student Dr. Brendan Podell, also in the MIP. Collaborating on the grant is Dr. Christopher Bell, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science, College of Applied Human Sciences; and other members of the Mycobacterial Research Laboratories at CSU.

“This project will use new animal models of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to understand why diabetics are at an increased risk of developing tuberculosis and why the bacterial infection is more severe in individuals with diabetes,” said Dr. Basaraba. “Our hypothesis is that diabetes and tuberculosis have in common a fundamental disease pathway, and that this may explain why both diseases are more severe when they occur in the same individual.”

The research grant comes in the wake of a recent troubling report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that estimated approximately one in 10 Americans currently have diabetes (27 million people), with more than one in three Americans expected to have diabetes by the year 2050. In addition, an estimated 79 million Americans are now pre-diabetic (and often unaware of their health status), and at a higher risk of developing clinical diabetes.

Not only is diabetes increasing dramatically in the United States, but the incidence worldwide is projected to rise from an estimated 171 million in 2000 to greater than 366 million by 2030 with three-quarters of diabetic patients living in low-income countries.

“People with diabetes are at increased risk for developing a number of life-threatening infections including tuberculosis,” said Dr. Basaraba. “The increased incidence of diabetes in countries that already have a high rate of tuberculosis has been recently referred to as a ‘global convergence of two epidemics.’”

The researchers will not only develop a new model of tuberculosis in diabetic animals but will explore novel drug treatment strategies that may someday be used to better control diabetes, tuberculosis, and other infections in human patients. In addition, the researchers hope that gaining a better understanding of the basic disease mechanisms also may lead to the development of novel vaccines specifically designed for use in high-risk individuals like those with diabetes.