The effect of spermidine on autoimmunity and beta cell function in NOD mice

In this paper published in Nature Scientific Reports (2022), Karacay et al showed that daily oral 10 mM spermidine treatment led to a higher diabetes incidence type-1 diabetic mice model (NOD) mice by elevating peripheral inflammation and reducing the proportion of regulatory T-cells, though the effects differed between late and early-onset diabetic mice. Although autophagy has been shown to be crucial in maintaining beta cell function under physiological conditions and in type 2 diabetes, they showed that spermidine treatment did not reduce diabetes incidence but increased proinflammatory T-cells in a type 1 diabetes model.