Maternal, paternal diabetes histories confer different degrees of risk to offspring

Maternal and paternal histories of diabetes have different effects on offspring risk of insulin secretion and resistance, and diabetes, a new study has found.

Drawing from the China National Diabetes and Metabolism Disorders Study, researchers enrolled 39,244 participants and divided them into four, according to parental history: negative parental history (FH0; n=34,913), paternal history only (PH; n=1,628), maternal history only (MH; n=2,378), and both maternal and paternal history (FH2; n=325).

Insulin secretion capacity, as assessed by the homeostatic model assessment for β-cell function (HOMA-B) and the insulinogenic index, was best in the FH0 group and worst in the FH2 group. The insulinogenic index in the MH group was significantly lower than that in the PH group (13.54 vs 18.06; p=0.0434). The Matsuda index (ISIm), on the other hand, was higher in the MH group (7.58 vs 6.93; p=0.0276).

Diabetes, prediabetes, and impaired glucose metabolism were most prevalent in the FH2 group, while the FH0 group saw the lowest estimates. Impaired glucose metabolism was significantly more common in the MH vs PH group (31.13 percent vs 25.41 percent; p=0.0134); no such difference was reported for diabetes and prediabetes.

The risk of diabetes was significantly elevated in the PH group relative to the FH0 participants (odds ratio [OR], 2.01, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.57–2.59; p<0.0001). The MH group also saw a significant spike in diabetes likelihood, albeit to a greater degree (OR, 2.67, 95 percent CI, 2.21–3.23; p<0.0001).

A similar trend was reported for impaired glucose metabolism. MH (OR, 1.65, 95 percent CI, 1.42–1.91; p<0.0001) had a stronger effect than PH (OR, 1.28, 95 percent CI, 1.06–1.54; p=0.009), though both emerged as significant risk factors.