Serum α-Tocopherol Concentrations and Risk of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cohort Study in Siblings of Affected Children

• Published in: Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Vol. 18; no. 12; pp. 1409 - 1416
• Main Authors: Uusitalo, L., Knip, M., Kenward, M G., Alfthan, G., Sundvall, J., Aro, A., Reunanen, A., Akerblom, H.K., Virtanen, S.M., Childhood Diabetes in Finland Study Group
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany De Gruyter 01.01.2005
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; alpha-Tocopherol - blood; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - immunology; Female; HLA-DR Antigens - analysis; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Siblings
• ISSN: 0334-018X; 2191-0251
• DOI: 10.1515/JPEM.2005.18.12.1409

Animal models have indicated that alpha-tocopherol may protect against type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1). Epidemiological data on the subject are scarce. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of serum alpha-tocopherol concentration and risk of DM1 in a cohort of initially non-diabetic siblings of children affected by DM1 (n = 722). We used two study designs: 1) Siblings who progressed to DM1 were compared with control siblings who remained negative for DM1-associated autoantibodies in a nested case-control study design. 2) All siblings with DM1-associated autoantibodies were prospectively followed for DM1. In both designs, high concentrations of serum alpha-tocopherol tended to be associated with a lower risk of DM1 (p = 0.08 and 0.09, respectively). Although the results did not reach statistical significance, they support the hypothesis that high alpha-tocopherol levels may protect against DM1.