Vitamin D and T1 risk

[skb]

A recent study on 1,316 children with diagnosed type 1 diabetes showed an unexpected inverse association between vitamin D intake and fasting C-peptide, a marker of residual insulin production from the pancreatic beta cell. A small prospective study in 252 Finnish children showed no difference in 25OHD levels among these who progressed to type 1 diabetes compared to controls. A larger observational study in children at risk for type 1 diabetes showed that neither increased 25OHD levels nor vitamin D supplementation were associated with islet autoimmunity, while a separate study showed no difference in 25OHD levels of newly diagnosed children with type 1 diabetes compared to those of their healthy siblings. Another prospective study demonstrated an association of low 25OHD with presence of pancreatic islet autoantibodies but not with progression to type 1 diabetes. It is important to note that prospective studies of the effect of 25OHD levels on type 1 diabetes starting before the occurrence of islet autoantibodies are less susceptible to reverse causation compared to other study types in the field.

Study