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

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition 2010-08, Vol.64 (8), p.792-799
• Main Authors: Virtanen, S.M, Niinistö, S, Nevalainen, J, Salminen, I, Takkinen, H.M, Kaaria, S, Uusitalo, L, Alfthan, G, Kenward, M.G, Veijola, R, Simell, O, Ilonen, J, Knip, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/250/38; 631/45/287/1183; 692/699/2743/1313/1418; 692/700/1720; Antigens; Autoantibodies; Autoantibodies - blood; Autoimmunity; Beta cells; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; blood chemistry; Blood lipids; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Clinical Nutrition; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Confidence intervals; conjugated linoleic acid; dairy products; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - immunology; Diabetes. Impaired glucose tolerance; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Disease Susceptibility; Endocrine pancreas. Apud cells (diseases); Endocrinopathies; endpoints; Epidemiology; Etiopathogenesis. Screening. Investigations. Target tissue resistance; Fatty acid composition; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - blood; Fatty Acids - immunology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Food and nutrition; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas chromatography; Health aspects; Histocompatibility antigen HLA; Histocompatibility antigens; HLA histocompatibility antigens; HLA-DQ Antigens; HLA-DQ beta-Chains; Humans; Infant; insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; Insulin-Secreting Cells - immunology; Internal Medicine; islets of Langerhans; Isomers; Leukocytes; Linoleic acid; Logistic Models; Male; Meat; meat products; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; myristic acid; Omega-3 fatty acids; original-article; Palmitoleic acid; Pancreatic beta cells; pentadecanoic acid; Public Health; Risk; Risk Factors; Risk reduction; ruminant meat fat; Ruminantia; Statistical analysis; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2010.75

Background/Objectives: N-3 (omega-3) fatty acids have been reported to decrease the risk for development of β-cell autoimmunity and clinical type I diabetes. We set out to examine whether different serum fatty acids are associated with the development of advanced β-cell autoimmunity in children carrying human leukocyte antigen DQ β-1 (HLA-DQB1)-conferred susceptibility to type I 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 1–6 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 (odds ratio (OR) 1.48, 95% confidence interval (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 16:1 n-7 (omega-7) (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.03–1.92, P=0.030) and 16:1 n-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 end point. Conclusions: Serum biomarkers of milk and ruminant meat fat consumption are directly associated and linoleic acid is inversely associated with advanced β-cell autoimmunity in children with HLA-conferred susceptibility to type I diabetes.