<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

My last post discussed the "gluten enigma".  NOD mice* experience a 
dramatically reduced incidence of and delayed development of type 1 
diabetes when fed EITHER a gluten-free OR a HIGH-gluten diet 
beginning within 3 weeks of birth (as opposed to a standard diet 
containing gluten.) The effect of gluten on human diabetes subjects 
has also been looked at in response to past NOD mice research.  A 
limited study has shown that a gluten-free diet does not appear to 
prevent or alter the risk of developing type 1 diabetes in high-risk 
human subjects who are related to patients with diabetic symptoms.  
This study looked at only 7 subjects who were NOT infants and were 
only placed on a GF diet for 1 year.  (Not a very convincing study.)  
However, these same researchers have noted in another study which 
followed infant subjects for up to 8 years, "Food supplementation with 
gluten-containing foods before age 3 months was associated with 
significantly increased islet autoantibody risk. Four of 17 children who 
received gluten foods before age 3 months developed islet 
autoantibodies. All 4 children had the high-risk 
DRB1*03/04,DQB1*0302 genotype."  This suggests that there is a 
window of opportunity to prevent the development of type 1 diabetes 
(or possibly celiac disease) if infants are kept on a gluten-free diet (OR 
possibly FIRST introduced to a HIGH-gluten diet) prior to age 3 months.

Of additional interest is that a gluten-free diet significantly alters the 
bacterial flora composition in the large bowel of NOD mice suggesting a 
possible link between gluten and bacteria.

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*Definition - "Non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice exhibit a susceptibility to 
spontaneous development of autoimmune (type 1) insulin dependent 
diabetes mellitus (IDDM)."  
< http://jaxmice.jax.org/library/notes/452a.html >

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Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2006 May-Jun;22(3):220-5. 
Diabetes preventive gluten-free diet decreases the number of caecal 
bacteria in non-obese diabetic mice.
Hansen AK, Ling F, Kaas A, Funda DP, Farlov H, Buschard K.
< http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.609 >
(Note: Caecal pertains to the caecum, the first portion of the large 
bowel, situated in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen.)

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Rev Diabet Stud. 2004 Spring; 1(1): 39–41. 
Elimination of Dietary Gluten and Development of Type 1 Diabetes in 
High Risk Subjects
Martin Füchtenbusch, Anette-G. Ziegler, and Michael Hummel
< http://dx.doi.org/10.1900/RDS.2004.1.39 >
(Note: Full text is free.)

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JAMA. 2003 Oct 1;290(13):1721-8. 
Early infant feeding and risk of developing type 1 diabetes-associated 
autoantibodies.
Ziegler AG, Schmid S, Huber D, Hummel M, Bonifacio E.
< http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/290/13/1721 >

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