Serum alpha-tocopherol concentrations and risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus: a cohort study in siblings of affected children.
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.
Uusitalo
Liisa
L
Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Finland.
Knip
Mikael
M
Kenward
Michael G
MG
Alfthan
Georg
G
Sundvall
Jouko
J
Aro
Antti
A
Reunanen
Antti
A
Akerblom
Hans K
HK
Virtanen
Suvi M
SM
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*
D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol