Higher ultraviolet radiation during early life is associated with lower risk of childhood type 1 diabetes among boys

Kate M Miller,Elizabeth A Davis,Nicholas H De Klerk,Robyn M Lucas,Prue H Hart

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97469-z

Abstract

Population-level ecological studies show type 1 diabetes incidence is inversely correlated with ambient ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels. We conducted a nested case–control study using administrative datasets to test this association at the individual level. Cases (n = 1819) were children born in Western Australia (WA) from 1980–2014, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at ≤ 16 years. Controls (n = 27,259) were randomly selected from all live births in WA, matched to cases by sex and date of birth. Total ambient erythemal ultraviolet radiation (UVR) doses for each trimester of pregnancy and first year of life were estimated for each individual, using daily NASA satellite data that were date- and geographically-specific. Conditional logistic regression tested the association between UVR dose and case–control status. Type 1 diabetes risk was 42% lower in boys of mothers with third-trimester UVR dose in the highest (compared to the lowest) quartile (p = 0.04). Higher UVR in the first year of life was associated with lower type 1 diabetes risk among boys (p = 0.01). UVR dose was not associated with type 1 diabetes risk in girls. Higher UVR in late pregnancy and early life appear to interact with sex-specific factors to lower type 1 diabetes risk among boys in Western Australia.

Highlights

Population-level ecological studies show type 1 diabetes incidence is inversely correlated with ambient ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels
UVR exposure has become of increasing interest in relation to the development of autoimmune diseases because of its immunomodulatory actions mediated through production of vitamin D, cis-urocanic acid, nitric oxide and stimulation of other p athways[10]
We used linked data from multiple population-based datasets to investigate the association between ambient erythemal UVR dose during gestation (i.e., UVR dose experienced by the mother during pregnancy) and the first year of life and subsequent risk for type 1 diabetes in childhood

Summary

Introduction

Population-level ecological studies show type 1 diabetes incidence is inversely correlated with ambient ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels. An Australian individual-level study has shown an inverse association between UVR band at the time of diagnosis and type 1 diabetes incidence, that was evident only at low population d ensity[9]. In Western Australia, there is considerable variation in UVR as a result of the extensive latitude range (from 10.5° South to 34.5° South) as well as from the four distinct seasons observed in the Perth metropolitan and outer metropolitan region where the majority of the population resides This population-based study is the first study to use UVR data that are both date- and geographically-specific to investigate the association between ambient UVR during gestation and the first year of life and type 1 diabetes risk in childhood

Methods

Results

Conclusion