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Pediatrics

Prevalence of obesity was related to HLA-DQ in 2–4-year-old children at genetic risk for type 1 diabetes

International Journal of Obesity volume 38, pages 1491–1496 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objectives:

Body size is postulated to modulate type 1 diabetes as either a trigger of islet autoimmunity or an accelerator to clinical onset after seroconversion. As overweight and obesity continue to rise among children, the aim of this study was to determine whether human leukocyte antigen DQ (HLA-DQ) genotypes may be related to body size among children genetically at risk for type 1 diabetes.

Methods:

Repeated measures of weight and height were collected from 5969 children 2–4 years of age enrolled in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young prospective study. Overweight and obesity was determined by the International Obesity Task Force cutoff values that correspond to body mass index (BMI) of 25 and 30 kg m−2 at age 18.

Results:

The average BMI was comparable across specific HLA genotypes at every age point. The proportion of overweight was not different by HLA, but percent obesity varied by age with a decreasing trend among DQ2/8 carriers (P for trend=0.0315). A multivariable regression model suggested DQ2/2 was associated with higher obesity risk at age 4 (odds ratio, 2.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.21–4.80) after adjusting for the development of islet autoantibody and/or type 1 diabetes.

Conclusions:

The HLA-DQ2/2 genotype may predispose to obesity among 2–4-year-old children with genetic risk for type 1 diabetes.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by U01 DK63829, U01 DK63861, U01 DK63821, U01 DK63865, U01 DK63863, U01 DK63836, U01 DK63790, UC4 DK63829, UC4 DK63861, UC4 DK63821, UC4 DK63865, UC4 DK63863, UC4 DK63836 and UC4 DK95300 and Contract No. HHSN267200700014C from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

JY and KV researched data, contributed to discussion, wrote the manuscript and reviewed and edited the manuscript. AL contributed to discussion, reviewed and edited the manuscript. UMU, KFL, RV, CW, HEL, MR, JXS, AGZ, OGS, WAH, BA, and JPK reviewed the manuscript. JY is the guarantor of this work and, as such, had full access to all the data in the study and takes final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.

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  1. See Online Only Supplemental Material.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Pediatrics Epidemiology Center, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    J Yang, U M Uusitalo, K F Lynch, J P Krischer & K Vehik

  2. Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University/CRC, Skåne University Hospital SUS, Malmö, Sweden

    Å Lernmark & H E Larsson

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    R Veijola

  4. Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, and Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, and Forschergruppe Diabetes e.V., Neuherberg, Germany

    C Winkler & A G Ziegler

  5. Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA

    M Rewers

  6. Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, Augusta, GA, USA

    J-X She

  7. Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    O G Simell

  8. Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA

    W A Hagopian

  9. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD, USA

    B Akolkar

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Yang, J., Lernmark, Å., Uusitalo, U. et al. Prevalence of obesity was related to HLA-DQ in 2–4-year-old children at genetic risk for type 1 diabetes. Int J Obes 38, 1491–1496 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2014.55

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