Low birthweight and Type 2 diabetes: a study on 11 162 Swedish twins.
BACKGROUND
To investigate the association between low birthweight and diabetes in a population-based Swedish twin sample. Method A cohort of 11 162 same-sexed Swedish twins born between 1906 and 1958 was used in order to investigate the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes between and within twin pairs by utilizing random effects linear models.


RESULTS
Between pairs there was a significant increase in risk of developing Type 2 diabetes for a 1-kg increase in their mean birthweight (odds ratio [OR] = 2.13; P < 0.01), adjusted for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status. The corresponding risk within pair was 2.03 (P = 0.07) for monozygotic twins and 1.15 (P = 0.71) for dizygotic twins. The test of the heterogeneity of the within and between effects showed no significant difference between the estimates.


CONCLUSIONS
The study suggests that reduced fetal growth increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes due to an in utero programming effect possibly caused by intrauterine malnutrition. However, it does not exclude the possibility of a common genetic mechanism.
Iliadou
A
A
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Anastasia.iliadou@meb.ki.se
Cnattingius
S
S
Lichtenstein
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001724:Birth Weight; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000196:embryology* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000196:embryology* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic