Abstract
Background: Iron overload has been associated with diabetes. Studies on iron exposure during pregnancy and in early life and risk of childhood type 1 diabetes (T1D) are sparse. We investigated whether iron supplementation during pregnancy and early in life were associated with risk of childhood T1D. Methods: In a case-cohort design, we identified up to 257 children with T1D (prevalence 0.37%) from the Danish National Birth Cohort through linkage with the Danish Childhood Diabetes Register. The primary exposure was maternal pure iron supplementation (yes/no) during pregnancy as reported in interview two at 30 weeks of gestation (n = 68,497 with iron supplement data). We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) using weighted Cox regression adjusting for multiple confounders. We also examined if offspring supplementation during the first 18 months of life was associated with later risk of T1D. Results: Maternal iron supplementation was not associated with later risk of T1D in the offspring HR 1.05 (95% CI: 0.76–1.45). Offspring intake of iron droplets during the first 18 months of life was inversely associated with risk of T1D HR 0.74 (95% CI: 0.55–1.00) (ptrend = 0.03). Conclusions: Our large-scale prospective study demonstrated no harmful effects of iron supplementation during pregnancy and in early life in regard to later risk of childhood T1D in the offspring.
Highlights
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic immune-mediated disease with a selective destruction of pancreatic β-cells leading to life-long insulin dependency and severe long-term complications [1,2].type 1 diabetes (T1D) is triggered by both genetic and environmental factors [1]
We confirm a higher percentage with high socio-economic status among those who take iron during pregnancy and give iron supplementation to their child
Our primary adjusted analysis demonstrated that there was no association between maternal pure iron supplementation during pregnancy and later risk of childhood T1D in the offspring hazard ratios (HRs) 1.05
Summary
T1D is triggered by both genetic and environmental factors [1]. Genetic susceptibility loci have been extensively identified [3], but only a few environmental factors have been proposed to associate with. Studies on iron exposure during pregnancy and in early life and risk of childhood type 1 diabetes (T1D) are sparse. We investigated whether iron supplementation during pregnancy and early in life were associated with risk of childhood T1D. We examined if offspring supplementation during the first 18 months of life was associated with later risk of T1D. Results: Maternal iron supplementation was not associated with later risk of T1D in the offspring HR 1.05 (95% CI: 0.76–1.45). Offspring intake of iron droplets during the first 18 months of life was inversely associated with risk of T1D HR 0.74 (95% CI: 0.55–1.00)
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