Early puberty and risk for type 2 diabetes in men

• Published in: Diabetologia Vol. 63; no. 6; pp. 1141 - 1150
• Main Authors: Ohlsson, Claes, Bygdell, Maria, Nethander, Maria, Kindblom, Jenny M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: adult males; Age; Age groups; association; body-mass-index; cardiometabolic risk; childhood; Childhood BMI; Children; Cohort; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diagnosis; Endocrinology; Endocrinology & Metabolism; Endocrinology and Diabetes; Endokrinologi och diabetes; Epidemiology; Human Physiology; Insulin; Internal Medicine; life-style; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; menarche; Mens health; Metabolic Diseases; National registers; obesity; Paediatrics; Pediatrics; Puberty; Risk factors; School health records; Type 2 diabetes; weight-gain; Type 2 diabetes; Puberty; National registers; Childhood BMI; Cohort; School health records; Epidemiology; Endocrinology; Paediatrics
• ISSN: 0012-186X; 1432-0428
• DOI: 10.1007/s00125-020-05121-8

Aims/hypothesis The association between pubertal timing and type 2 diabetes, independent of prepubertal BMI, is not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between pubertal timing and risk of adult type 2 diabetes, independent of prepubertal BMI, in Swedish men. Methods We included 30,697 men who had data for BMI at age 8 and 20 years and age at Peak Height Velocity (PHV), an objective assessment of pubertal timing, available from the BMI Epidemiology Study Gothenburg (BEST Gothenburg), Sweden. Information on type 2 diabetes ( n  = 1851) was retrieved from the Swedish National Patient Register. HRs and 95% CIs were estimated by Cox regression analysis. We observed violations of the assumption of proportional hazards for the association between age at PHV and the risk of type 2 diabetes and therefore split the follow-up period at the median age of type 2 diabetes diagnosis (57.2 years of age) to define early (≤57.2 years) and late (>57.2 years) type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Results Age at PHV was inversely associated with both early (HR 1.28 per year decrease in age at PHV, 95% CI 1.21, 1.36) and late (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06, 1.19) type 2 diabetes. After adjustment for childhood BMI, the associations between age at PHV and both early (HR 1.24, 95% CI 1.17, 1.31) and late (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.05, 1.17) type 2 diabetes were similar. Moreover, early age at PHV predicted insulin treatment of type 2 diabetes (OR 1.25 per year decrease in age at PHV, 95% CI 1.17, 1.33). Assuming a higher risk among those with an age at PHV below the median, the population attributable factor indicates that 15% fewer of the diagnosed individuals would have developed type 2 diabetes had they not reached puberty early. Conclusions/interpretation These findings indicate that early puberty may be a novel independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes.