University of Helsinki

Researchers from five countries to test hygiene hypothesis with EU funding

Why do Finnish children have type 1 diabetes and allergic symptoms approximately five times more often than children in Russian Karelia?

High living standards and the life style connected to them seem to promote the development of autoimmune diseases and allergic symptoms. This has lead to the assumption that the immune system begins to overreact to the organism’s own structures or to exogenous non-infectious proteins when it does not have to work hard enough to protect the individual from infections.

The European Union with its Seventh Framework Program has allocated 6 million euros to the University of Helsinki coordinated DIABIMMUNE research project for the years 2008-2013 to establish whether the decrease in the infection load is connected to type 1 diabetes and the emergence of allergies.

The project comprises 12 partners from Finland, Estonia, Russia, Germany and the Netherlands, and the study will include 7 000 children from Finland, Estonia and Russian Karelia in northwestern Russia.

“We are to study infants and toddlers in order to yield new information on the maturation of the immune system and the interaction between the immune system and the environment”, tells Professor Mikael Knip from the University of Helsinki.

Based on earlier studies it is known that the incidence of type 1 diabetes is six times higher and the prevalence of celiac disease five times higher among Finnish children than among Russian Karelian children. The HLA gene variants that predispose people to autoimmune diseases are however approximately equally common in both populations - so the
differences in the frequency of autoimmune phenomena and allergic responses between Finland and Russian Karelia cannot be due to genetic causes.

"High living standards and the associated life style appear to promote the development of autoimmune diseases and allergic responses. We are searching for ways to stop these diseases from becoming more frequent and to prevent their development", Knip says.

Press release

Text: Päivi Lehtinen
Translation: Elina Värtö
Photo: Lääkäriliitto / Jukka Mykkänen