staph toxins suppress the immune system, may cause diabetes...

'People who are colonised by staph bacteria are being chronically exposed to the superantigens the bacteria are producing.' 

Professor Schlievert's past research has shown that superantigens - the toxins produced by all strains of staph bacteria - disrupt the immune system.

The are also responsible for the deadly effects of various staph infections, such as toxic shock syndrome, sepsis and endocarditis.

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Obesity is a known risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes (a diabetic pancreas is pictured). But being obese can also alter a person's microbiome - the ecosystem of bacteria that colonise a person's gut, and affect their health, causing high levels of staph bacteria, the experts said

His team's latest study shows the toxins interact with fat cells and the immune system to cause chronic systemic inflammation.

It is this inflammation, the researchers said, that results in insulin resistance and other symptoms of type 2 diabetes.