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. 2010 Jan;59(1):210-4.
doi: 10.2337/db09-0344. Epub 2009 Oct 15.

Age at onset of type 1 diabetes in parents and recurrence risk in offspring

Valma Harjutsalo  1 , Niina Lammi, Marjatta Karvonen, Per-Henrik Groop
Affiliations

Age at onset of type 1 diabetes in parents and recurrence risk in offspring

Valma Harjutsalo et al. Diabetes. 2010 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: Our aim was to study the recurrence risk of type 1 diabetes in the offspring of parents with adult-onset (15-39 years) type 1 diabetes and to evaluate the transmission of diabetes within a continuum of parental age at onset of diabetes from childhood to adulthood.

Research design and methods: Diabetes status of all offspring (n = 9,636) in two Finnish cohorts of parents with type 1 diabetes was defined until the end of year 2007. Cumulative incidences of type 1 diabetes among the offspring were estimated, and several factors contributing to the risk were assessed.

Results: During 137,455 person-years, a total of 413 offspring were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The cumulative incidence by 20 years was 4.0% (95% CI 3.1-4.8) for the offspring of parents with adult-onset diabetes. The risk was equal according to the sex of the parents. The cumulative incidence decreased in parallel with the increase in age at onset of diabetes in the fathers. In the offspring of diabetic mothers, the risk was equal regardless of the age at onset of diabetes. However, the reduced risk in the maternal offspring was most pronounced in the daughters of the mothers with a diagnosis age <10 years.

Conclusions: Type 1 diabetes transmission ratio distortion is strongly related to the sex and age at onset of diabetes in the diabetic parents.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Cumulative incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the offspring of fathers and mothers with late-onset type 1 diabetes (P = 0.30, log-rank test) (A) and in the offspring of fathers in the combined cohorts according to age at onset of diabetes in the fathers (P < 0.0001, log-rank test) and in the offspring of mothers in the combined cohorts (P = 0.69, log-rank test) (B).
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Cumulative incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the boys and girls of the diabetic mothers with diabetes onset <10 years (P = 0.008, log-rank test) (A) and ≥10 years (P = 0.75, log-rank test) (B).
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