Mothers who have Type 1 diabetes protect their babies from the condition in the womb, scientists believe.
The disease is often inherited, but researchers say that a child is almost twice as likely to be diagnosed if their father has the condition, rather than their mother.
It suggests that during pregnancy, a mother with diabetes is somehow protecting her offspring, in a discovery that could pave the way for treatments that could provide a similar shield.
Lead researcher Dr Lowri Allen, of the Diabetes Research Group, at Cardiff University, said: “Individuals with a family history of Type 1 diabetes are 8-15 times more likely to develop the autoimmune condition – however, studies have shown the risk is higher if the affected relative is the father rather than the mother. We wanted to understand this more.
“Understanding why having a mother compared with a father with Type 1 diabetes offers a relative protection against Type 1 diabetes could help us develop new ways to prevent Type 1 diabetes, such as treatments that mimic some of the protective elements from mothers.
“Our findings suggest the relative protection associated with having a mother versus father with Type 1 diabetes is a long-term effect that extends into adult life.
“We were also interested in what might be responsible for the effect. Further research is needed but ultimately, we hope that it might be possible in the future to offer treatments at the very earliest stages of life to prevent the onset of Type 1 diabetes in individuals who are at particularly high risk of the disease.”
Almost 220,000 people live with Type 1 diabetes in Britain, a condition which destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
The analysis involved 11,475 individuals with Type 1 diabetes who were diagnosed from birth up to 88-years-old.
The results show they were almost twice as likely (1.8 times) to have a father with Type 1 diabetes as a mother with the condition, whether diagnosed in childhood or as an adult.
The study also showed that the timing of the parent’s diagnosis was important. An individual was only more likely to have a father, rather than a mother, with Type1 diabetes, if the parent was diagnosed before the individual was born.
Having a mother with Type 1 diabetes only appears to provide a child with protection against the condition if the mother has the condition during pregnancy.
“This suggests that exposure to Type 1 diabetes in the womb is critical,” added Dr Allen.
“Further research is needed to determine what it is about exposure to Type 1 diabetes in the womb that is most important – is it exposure to high blood glucose levels, insulin treatment, antibodies associated with Type 1 diabetes, a combination of these, or exposure to another aspect of Type 1 diabetes?”
There are currently no drugs which can prevent or cure Type 1 diabetes, and just one that can temporarily delay onset. Those with the condition must monitor their blood sugar continually and take insulin injections once or twice a day.
But the breakthrough suggests that children at risk may not contract the condition in the future.
Prof Richard Oram, of the department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Exeter Medical School, said: “This study, the largest to investigate the risk of Type 1 diabetes in individuals with affected mothers and fathers, has enriched our understanding of the differences in parental risk, relative maternal protection from Type 1 diabetes and underlying mechanisms.
“This can potentially help open up new therapeutic avenues for Type 1 diabetes.”
“To date, just one drug has been licensed to delay the onset of Type 1 diabetes and, whilst several studies are under way to develop other treatments that delay or prevent the condition, limited progress has been made in identifying treatments that can be offered before diabetes has even begun to develop.”
The research was presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
2024-07-27T06:02:15Z dg43tfdfdgfd