OBJECTIVE

To examine whether iron intake and genetically determined iron overload interact in predisposing to the development of childhood islet autoimmunity (IA) and type 1 diabetes (T1D).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

In The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study, 7,770 genetically high-risk children were followed from birth until the development of IA and progression to T1D. Exposures included energy-adjusted iron intake in the first 3 years of life and a genetic risk score (GRS) for increased circulating iron.

RESULTS

We found a U-shaped association between iron intake and risk of GAD antibody as the first autoantibody. In children with GRS ≥2 iron risk alleles, high iron intake was associated with an increased risk of IA, with insulin as first autoantibody (adjusted hazard ratio 1.71 [95% CI 1.14; 2.58]) compared with moderate iron intake.

CONCLUSIONS

Iron intake may alter the risk of IA in children with high-risk HLA haplogenotypes.

Graphical Abstract

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This article contains supplementary material online at https://doi.org/10.2337/figshare.22009220.

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A complete list of the TEDDY Study Group can be found in the supplementary material online.

© 2023 by the American Diabetes Association
2023
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