Why Moms Are Less Likely to Pass on Type 1 Diabetes Than Dads

Children are twice as likely to develop type 1 diabetes (T1D) if their father is in a more condition than their mother. Recent research It was presented at the annual general meeting of the European Association for Diabetes Research (EASD) in Madrid. Both mothers and fathers can pass on genes that are undoubtedly likely to develop type 1 diabetes, but if a T1D woman is pregnant, it appears that they will also protect her growing baby from the condition.

This study has been confirmed Previous research: Fathers with T1D tend to have a higher proportion of children with T1D. but why? Although the details are vague, research is important as identifying what protects or reduces the risk of T1D in children may contribute to the development of preventive treatments. Let’s take a closer look at this study.

How pregnant women protect against T1D risk

“We wanted to establish whether having a mother with a Type 1 father would provide long-term protection or if it was short-term,” he said. Lori Allen, MDthe health committee of Cardiff and Vale University in Wales, contributed to the new research. “Infectious diseases, for example, mothers can provide short-term protection for antibodies that pass through the fetus during pregnancy. After birth, babies eventually lose that protection and become susceptible to those infections.”

Dr. Allen and her colleagues wanted to know. Is this protection from mother “weaks out” or will it last for a long time with the child?

“And if it’s short-term protection, does the data show that the affected mother’s child develops type 1 diabetes compared to when the patient develops the condition with her father?”

However, the idea of ​​”protection” is not simple either. Is the age of the parent’s diagnosis important? To answer these types of questions, this study required both large participants and long term periods to track the percentage of T1D diagnosis.

Recent studies are the largest of this type, with approximately 11,500 participants diagnosed with T1D between the ages of 0 and 88.

Researchers’ conclusions include:

• Children born to a T1D father are twice as likely to develop T1D compared to children born to a T1D mother.
• There is no difference in the timing of a child’s T1D diagnosis based on whether he was born to a T1D mother or a T1D father.
• The timing of the parent’s diagnosis is important. Children with T1D were more likely to have fathers diagnosed with T1D before the child was born.
• Women diagnosed with T1D after the birth of their child did not provide additional protection.

The bottom line shows that the difference in risk has nothing to do with the mother or father’s genes. Rather, what was important was the type of protection provided by mothers with type 1 diabetes through the uterus.

At this time, researchers are not yet sure what protective features the fetus has gained from their mothers.

“More research is needed to determine what is most important in utero type 1 diabetes exposure,” Allen added. “Is it exposure to hyperglycemic levels, insulin treatment, antibodies associated with type 1 diabetes, a combination of these, or another aspect of type 1 diabetes?”

Pregnancy and blood sugar levels

For T1D women, Pregnancy can be one of the most intense experiences due to pressure to maintain blood glucose levels close to diabetes. It is well understood that A1C levels below 7% are important during pregnancy to reduce the risk of congenital abnormalities such as pre-lamp syndrome and maternal complications.

But is it possible that the rise in blood sugar levels can protect children who are somehow growing up? Even with very tight glycemic control and A1C levels of 5S, the fetus is exposed to higher than normal blood glucose levels compared to non-diabetic pregnancy.

“This is probably a million dollar question,” Allen explained. “At this point, it’s all very hypothetical. There was no data on glucose control during pregnancy in this study.”

Allen points to past research from 1999. Babydiab Researchresearchers analyzed A1C levels in pregnant women with T1D in the late stages of pregnancy and the risk of developing T1D in children. The children who were least likely to develop type 1 diabetes were mothers with moderately elevated blood sugar levels, not too high or too low.

“They reported that mothers with moderate hyperglycemia had a lower risk of T1D when A1C levels were between 5.7-7% compared to those with A1C levels below 5.7%,” Allen explained. “However, the risk of developing T1D in children was actually higher if the mother had more than 7% A1c.”

Allen said this could indicate that moderately elevated blood glucose levels could stimulate the growth of beta cells in the baby’s pancreas before birth, reducing the risk of diabetes. Beta cells are involved in the production of insulin.

“However, if higher blood sugar exposures pass certain thresholds, it can exhaust children’s beta cells, which can increase the stress on them and the likelihood of diabetes,” Allen added.

This is one theory. Allen said there are many more, including the idea that glucose exposure can lead to changes in children’s DNA.

“We need to have a clear understanding of how blood glucose exposure affects T1D risk in children,” Allen proposed. Allen and her colleagues hope that this study will ultimately support the development of treatments to prevent and treat T1D.