Retinol, Carotenoid, and Tocopherol Intake and Status, and the Risk of Islet Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes: The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young Study
AIMS: To study the associations of dietary intake of A and E vitamins, as well as plasma retinols, carotenoids, and tocopherols in relation to development of islet autoimmunity and progression to T1D. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) Study followed 7659 newborns with genetic susceptibility to T1D for 6 years in the USA, Finland, Germany, and Sweden. Dietary vitamin intake was assessed repeatedly with 3-day food-records in full cohort at ages 6 months to 6 years. Plasma retinols, carotenoids, and tocopherols were analysed in a nested case-control setting with 359 children with islet autoimmunity and 1033 matched controls. RESULTS: In the full cohort analyses, dietary intake of retinol, β-carotene, and vitamin E was not associated with the risk of islet autoimmunity or progression to T1D. Further, none of the plasma retinol, carotenoid, and tocopherol biomarkers were associated with islet autoimmunity or T1D in the full nested case-control analyses. We observed effect modification by country, breastfeeding, sex, and follow-up time for both intake and biomarkers of vitamins on the risk of islet autoimmunity or T1D, and some subgroup associations. Finally, a plasma carotenoid metabolite (likely zeinoxanthin) (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.39, 0.95, p = 0.03) and γ-carotene at 6 months (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.45, 0.94, p = 0.02) were inversely associated with the odds of developing GADA-first. CONCLUSIONS: Retinol, carotenoids and tocopherols were not consistently associated with islet autoimmunity. This study adds to the understanding of factors and their interactions related to T1D development.
Authors
- Carin Andrén Aronsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0256-9367)
- Leena Hakola (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7115-6035)
- Beena Akolkar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2351-5942)
- Åke Lernmark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1735-0499)
- Markus Mattila (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7829-9474)
- Jorma Toppari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2228-334X)
- William Hagopian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2979-0475)
- Richard McIndoe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3040-3631)
- Joanna Clasen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4231-5740)
- Jeffrey P. Krischer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4526-888X)
- Sari Niinistö (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2041-6241)
- Anette‐G. Ziegler
- Iris Erlund
- the TEDDY Study Group
- Ulla Uusitalo
- Sandra Hummel
- Jill M. Norris
- Marian J. Rewers
- Suvi M. Virtanen
Institutions
- Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute (US)
- Colorado School of Public Health (US)
- University of Turku (FI)
- Lund University (SE)
- Augusta University (US)
- University of South Florida (US)
- Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FI)
- Turku University Hospital (FI)
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (FI)
- University of Colorado Health (US)
- Augusta University Health (US)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (US)
- Tampere University Hospital (FI)
- Tampere University (FI)
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FI)
- Skåne University Hospital (SE)
- Turku Centre for Biotechnology (FI)
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews
- Published
- 2026-06-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.70196
- Primary Topic
- Diabetes and associated disorders
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development