Maternal T1D Less Likely Transferred to Child as Compare to Paternal T1D: Study finds

Against the above background, Dr. Lowri Allen of the Diabetes Research Group at Cardiff University, UK, and colleagues performed a meta-analysis across 5 cohorts of individuals with type 1 diabetes (total n=11,475, diagnosed age 0-88 years).

They compared the proportion of individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) inherited from their fathers versus their mothers and investigated if this comparison was affected by the age at which the individual was diagnosed and the timing of the parent's diagnosis relative to the child's birth. Additionally, they analysed the type 1 diabetes genetic risk score (GRS2) between those with T1D inherited from mothers and those from fathers.

Study findings reveal:

• Twice as many individuals had an affected father compared with mother (overall OR 1.79).
• The proportion of individuals with type 1 diabetes who had an affected father was higher than those with an affected mother, both for those diagnosed at > 18 years (OR 1.64) and ≤18 years (OR 1.80)
• The higher proportion of individuals with affected fathers was observed only if the father's diagnosis occurred before the offspring's birth (OR 1.92 vs OR 1.28).
• The genetic risk score for type 1 diabetes (GRS2) did not significantly differ between individuals with affected fathers and those with affected mothers.

“Mother with type 1 diabetes, compared to a father, provides relative protection against developing the condition and this can help us create new preventive treatments. These treatments might aim to mimic some of the protective elements present in mothers,” said the researchers.

Reference: Allen, L. A., Taylor, P. N., Carson, A., Oram, R., & Colleagues. (2024). Maternal type 1 diabetes confers long-term relative protection against type 1 diabetes in the offspring: Results from five cohort studies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Madrid, Spain.