Abstract
Fetus and mother naturally exchange cells, and small numbers of maternal cells can persist in the child for decades. The phenomenon is denoted maternal microchimerism and involves a delicate balance between increased immune surveillance and triggering of autoimmunity. We aim to investigate the association between circulatory maternal microchimerism and type 1 diabetes in children.
This case-control study includes Danish children with and without type 1 diabetes (n=69 and 578, respectively). Peripheral blood from cases, controls, and mothers was used to identify an informative indel allele for each mother-child pair. Sequence-specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays were used to detect and quantify maternal cells in the child’s blood.
A logistic regression model was used to test the crude association between maternal microchimerism presence and type 1 diabetes. Because our directed acyclic graph suggests that perinatal exposures can confound the estimate, we estimated the E-value for the crude estimate to evaluate the robustness to uncontrolled confounding.
Maternal microchimerism was detected in 54% of cases (34/63) and 17% of controls (80/459) corresponding to an OR of 5.6 (95% CI 3.2, 9.7) for having type 1 diabetes among children tested positive compared to negative for maternal microchimerism. A group of confounders should be associated with a >10-fold increased probability of testing positive for maternal microchimerism as well as of having type 1 diabetes to cause a spurious OR of this size (E-values OR 10.7, CI 5.9).
Presence of maternal microchimerism was more common in children with type 1 diabetes compared to controls, and the findings are unlikely to be explained fully by unadjusted confounding. To further assess the association, we will conduct adjusted analyses, include a quantitative exposure measure, and conduct sub- and sensitivity analyses. Laboratory results are currently being linked to register data to obtain information on covariates.
This case-control study includes Danish children with and without type 1 diabetes (n=69 and 578, respectively). Peripheral blood from cases, controls, and mothers was used to identify an informative indel allele for each mother-child pair. Sequence-specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays were used to detect and quantify maternal cells in the child’s blood.
A logistic regression model was used to test the crude association between maternal microchimerism presence and type 1 diabetes. Because our directed acyclic graph suggests that perinatal exposures can confound the estimate, we estimated the E-value for the crude estimate to evaluate the robustness to uncontrolled confounding.
Maternal microchimerism was detected in 54% of cases (34/63) and 17% of controls (80/459) corresponding to an OR of 5.6 (95% CI 3.2, 9.7) for having type 1 diabetes among children tested positive compared to negative for maternal microchimerism. A group of confounders should be associated with a >10-fold increased probability of testing positive for maternal microchimerism as well as of having type 1 diabetes to cause a spurious OR of this size (E-values OR 10.7, CI 5.9).
Presence of maternal microchimerism was more common in children with type 1 diabetes compared to controls, and the findings are unlikely to be explained fully by unadjusted confounding. To further assess the association, we will conduct adjusted analyses, include a quantitative exposure measure, and conduct sub- and sensitivity analyses. Laboratory results are currently being linked to register data to obtain information on covariates.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Publikationsdato | 13 jun. 2023 |
| Status | Udgivet - 13 jun. 2023 |
| Begivenhed | Society for Epidemiologic Research 2023 Annual Meeting - Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland, USA Varighed: 13 jun. 2023 → 16 jun. 2023 Konferencens nummer: 2023 https://epiresearch.org/annual-meeting/archives-2/2023-meeting/ |
Konference
| Konference | Society for Epidemiologic Research 2023 Annual Meeting |
|---|---|
| Nummer | 2023 |
| Lokation | Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront |
| Land/Område | USA |
| By | Portland |
| Periode | 13/06/2023 → 16/06/2023 |
| Internetadresse |