title: Serum alpha-tocopherol concentrations and risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus: a cohort study in siblings of affected children.
abstract: Animal models have indicated that alpha-tocopherol may protect against type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1). Epidemiological data on the subject are scarce. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of serum alpha-tocopherol concentration and risk of DM1 in a cohort of initially non-diabetic siblings of children affected by DM1 (n = 722). We used two study designs: 1) Siblings who progressed to DM1 were compared with control siblings who remained negative for DM1-associated autoantibodies in a nested case-control study design. 2) All siblings with DM1-associated autoantibodies were prospectively followed for DM1. In both designs, high concentrations of serum alpha-tocopherol tended to be associated with a lower risk of DM1 (p = 0.08 and 0.09, respectively). Although the results did not reach statistical significance, they support the hypothesis that high alpha-tocopherol levels may protect against DM1.
authors.affiliation: Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Liisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Uusitalo
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knip
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kenward
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alfthan
authors.forename: Jouko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sundvall
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aro
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reunanen
authors.forename: Hans K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Akerblom
authors.forename: Suvi M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Virtanen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D035781:Siblings; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol