Association between a pro-inflammatory dietary pattern during pregnancy and type 1 diabetes risk in offspring:
Rohina Noorzae1,2, Anne Ahrendt Bjerregaard1,3, Thorhallur Ingi Halldorsson1,4
1Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Kobenhavn, Denmark.
Insights
A maternal diet high in pro-inflammatory foods during pregnancy is linked to a higher risk of type 1 diabetes in children. This finding highlights the importance of maternal diet in early-life immune development and disease prevention.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Nutritional Science
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Immune-mediated processes contributing to type 1 diabetes may originate during fetal development.
- Maternal diet during pregnancy is a potential environmental factor influencing offspring's risk of type 1 diabetes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between a maternal inflammatory diet during pregnancy and the subsequent risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) comprising 67,701 mother-child pairs.
- Calculated Maternal Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index (EDII) scores from food frequency questionnaires.
- Employed Cox regression analysis to examine the association between maternal EDII scores and childhood type 1 diabetes diagnoses obtained via registry linkage.
Main Results:
- A significant association was observed between maternal EDII scores and offspring type 1 diabetes risk.
- Each one-unit increase in the maternal EDII score was associated with a 16% increased incidence rate of type 1 diabetes in offspring (95% CI 2% to 32%).
- This association remained significant after adjusting for relevant covariates.
Conclusions:
- A maternal diet characterized by pro-inflammatory foods during pregnancy is associated with an elevated risk of type 1 diabetes in children.
- Findings suggest maternal nutrition plays a role in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.
Background:
Immune-mediated processes leading to childhood type 1 diabetes may begin in fetal life. We hypothesised that a maternal inflammatory diet during pregnancy increases offspring risk of type 1 diabetes.
Methods:
The Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) was recruited during 1996-2002. Maternal Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index score (EDII-score) was calculated from a comprehensive 360-item self-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) completed around gestation week 25. Information on covariates was derived from maternal interviews. Information on type 1 diabetes diagnosis in the offspring was obtained through registry linkage to the Danish Registry of Childhood and Adolescent Diabetes. The association between the EDII score during pregnancy and the child's subsequent type 1 diabetes risk was examined by Cox regression.
Results:
We included singleton live births and excluded confirmed maternal type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes diagnoses prior to pregnancy, and implausibly high/low energy intake. In 67 701 mother-child pairs eligible for analyses, 281 children were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Mean EDII score was -0.1 with a range from -5.3 (anti-inflammatory) to 4.1 (pro-inflammatory) with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.98. Maternal EDII score was significantly associated with type 1 diabetes risk in offspring in both unadjusted and covariate-adjusted analyses. After adjustment for covariates, the incidence rate of type 1 diabetes in offspring increased with increasing EDII score by 16% (95% confidence interval (CI) 2% to 32%) per one unit increase in the EDII score.
Conclusion:
A maternal diet high in pro-inflammatory foods during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes in the offspring.
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