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


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.
Harjutsalo
Valma
V
Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Centre, Biomedicum Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. valma.harjutsalo@helsinki.fi
Lammi
Niina
N
Karvonen
Marjatta
M
Groop
Per-Henrik
PH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D012008:Recurrence; D012727:Sex Characteristics