Skin Autofluorescence in Young Adult Offspring of Women with Type 1 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Case-Control Study

Offspring born to women with type 1 diabetes pregnancies have an elevated risk for early-onset obesity and type 2 diabetes compared with offspring born to women without diabetes. Skin autofluorescence (SAF) is a marker of accumulated advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and it has been shown to predict type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in the general population. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether maternal type 1 diabetes influences the SAF value in young adult offspring.

This cross-sectional case-control study included 78 offspring of women with type 1 diabetes (cases) and 85 control participants (controls). All study participants, aged 18-23 years, were invited to participate in a clinical assessment including laboratory tests and questionnaires. SAF was assessed using the AGE reader from the dominant forearm of each participant.

The mean SAF value did not differ between the cases (1.61 [standard deviation (SD) 0.37]) arbitrary units [AU]) and the controls (1.64 [SD 0.41] AU) (p = 0.69). After adjusting for glycated hemoglobin A_1c, body fat percentage, smoking, and season the mean SAF value did not differ between the cases and the controls (p = 0.49) but differed between men and women (p = 0.008), without any interaction observed (p = 0.78).

SAF values did not differ between the young adult offspring of women with type 1 diabetes and offspring born to mothers without diabetes. Surprisingly, young adult women showed higher SAF values than men in both case and control groups.