Vitamin D, known as the sun’s vitamin, plays a very important role in health, as it favors mineralization and bone growth and prevents infections, among many other benefits, such as greater protection against covid-19. This vitamin is synthesized by the skin by exposure of sunlight, the main source of this nutrient, but can also be obtained by consuming products such as fatty fish, fish liver oil, eggs or whole milk and dairy derivatives. Also, vitamin D may have a relationship with diabetes.
In this regard, a study published in the journal PLOS Medicine concludes that genetically determined vitamin D levels do not have a major effect on the risk of type 1 diabetes in the European population. The research work has been led by Dr. Despoina Manousaki, from the Sainte-Justine University Hospital and the University of Montreal, Canada.
What is type 1 diabetes?
This type of diabetes, which usually has the highest incidence among children and young people and is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases, is characterized because the patient’s immune system causes the destruction of beta cells in the pancreas, which causes total insulin deficiency. So far, mechanisms to prevent their appearance are unknown.
It differs from type 2 in that most people who have the latter can produce insulin, but not in sufficient amounts that the body needs for proper functioning. In addition, as a clear difference, it can be prevented if healthy eating habits are maintained and combined with moderate physical activity.
Relationship of type 1 diabetes to vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency has previously been associated in observational studies with type 1 diabetes, but there is a lack of evidence of a causal effect in randomized controlled trials. Thus, in this recent study, the researchers used a Mendelian randomization design to check whether genetic decline in vitamin D levels increases the risk of type 1 diabetes.
Methodology of the study
Mendelian randomization is a method that uses the variation measured in genes with known function, to examine the causal effect that a modifiable risk factor has on a disease. In this way, the research incorporated a study of the vitamin D relationship with the genome (GWAS) with 443,734 Europeans, and a GWAS of type 1 diabetes with 9,358 cases and 15,705 controls.
Results
Until more tests are obtained for large Random Clinical Trials (RCTs), we cannot suggest the use of vitamin D supplements as a strategy to prevent type 1 diabetes.
The results of the study concluded that there is no major effect of vitamin D levels on the risk of type 1 diabetes. However, the researchers open up the possibility of minor effects and that the results do not apply to non-European populations.
In addition, they suggest that previous associations discovered between vitamin D and the risk of type 1 diabetes could be related to confounding factors, such as exposure to sunlight or latitude.
Dr. Manousaki clarifies that until more tests are obtained from large Random Clinical Trials (RCTs), we cannot suggest the use of vitamin D supplements as a strategy to prevent type 1 diabetes in at-risk individuals, for example, siblings or children of people with type 1 diabetes.