Serum fatty acids and risk of advanced β cell autoimmunity: a nested case-control study among children with HLA-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes

Sm Virtanen (1) , Sari Niinistö (1) , Jaakko Nevalainen (1) , Irma Salminen (1) , Hanna-Mari Takkinen (1) , Suvi Kääriä (1) , Liisa Uusitalo (1) , Georg Alfthan (1) , Mike Kenward (1) , Riitta Veijola (1) , O Simell (1) , Jorma Ilonen (1) , Mikael Knip (1)

1 Tampere School of Public Health

Background/ Objectives: N-3 (omega-3) fatty acids have been reported to decrease the risk for development of β cell autoimmunity and clinical type 1 diabetes. We set out to examine whether different serum fatty acids are associated with the development of advanced β cell autoimmunity in children carrying HLA-DQB1-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes. Subjects/Methods: Within a cohort, serum total fatty acid composition of 108 children with advanced β cell autoimmunity and of 216 matched persistently autoantibody-negative controls was analyzed using gas chromatography. Non-fasting serum samples were obtained annually at the ages of 1 to 6 years. Conditional logistic regression was applied to analyze the associations between advanced β cell autoimmunity and serum fatty acids. Results: The serum fatty acid profile of myristic acid (OR =1.48, 95% CI 1.09-2.00, p=0.011), pentadecanoic acid (OR=1.65 95% CI: 1.19-2.28, p=0.003), palmitoleic acid isomers 16:1n-7 (omega-7) (OR=1.41, 95% CI 1.03-1.92, p=0.030) and 16:1n-9 (omega-9) (OR=1.45, 95% CI 1.05-2.01, p=0.026), and conjugated linoleic acid (OR=1.67, 95% CI 1.16-2.41, p=0.006) closest to the time of the appearance of multiple autoantibodies were positively associated with the risk of advanced β cell autoimmunity after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Serum linoleic acid showed inverse, marginal association with the endpoint. Conclusions: Serum biomarkers of milk and ruminant meat fat consumption are directly and linoleic acid inversely associated with advanced β cell autoimmunity in children with HLA-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes. Keywords: Serum fatty acids, Diabetes mellitus, type 1-diabetes associated autoantibodies, Child, Cohort studies

Mots clés: Serum; Fatty acids; Diabetes mellitus; type 1; Autoantibodies; Child; preschool; Cohort studies

Sm Virtanen, Sari Niinistö, Jaakko Nevalainen, Irma Salminen, Hanna-Mari Takkinen, et al.. Serum fatty acids and risk of advanced β cell autoimmunity: a nested case-control study among children with HLA-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010, ⟨10.1038/ejcn.2010.75⟩. ⟨hal-00540033⟩