Vitamin D levels at birth and risk of type 1 diabetes in childhood: a case–control study

Aims: To assess whether vitamin D levels at birth were associated with risk of having type 1 diabetes up to 10 years of age and the potential modifier effect of ethnic group. Methods: The Piedmont Diabetes Registry and the Newborn Screening Regional data were linked to identify cases (n = 67 incident children aged ≤10 years at diabetes onset, 2002–2012) and up to five controls (n = 236) matched for birthday and ethnic group. Cards with neonatal blood spot were used and 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) assessed with tandem mass spectroscopy. Results: In conditional logistic regression, OR for unit increment of log vitamin D was 0.78 (95 % CI 0.56–1.10). Vitamin D was significantly lower in migrant than in Italian control newborn babies (p < 0.0001), and interaction between vitamin D and migrant status was statistically significant (p = 0.04). Compared to migrant newborns babies with vitamin D ≥ 2.14 ng/ml, migrants with lower levels had an OR of 14.02 (1.76–111.70), whereas no association was evident in Italians. Conclusions: Our case–control study within the Piedmont Diabetes Registry showed no association between vitamin D levels at birth and risk of having type 1 diabetes up to 10 years of age, apart from the subgroup of migrant babies, which might have clinical implications if confirmed.