No major association of breast-feeding, vaccinations, and childhood viral diseases with early islet autoimmunity in the German BABYDIAB study

OBJECTIVE - Environmental factors have been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. The aim of this study was to a ssess the influence of breast-feeding, vaccinations, and childhood viral di seases on the initiation of islet autoimmunity in early childhood. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - Data were prospectively collected from questi onnaires obtained at birth, at 9 months of age, and at 2 years of age in 82 3 offspring from parents with type 1 diabetes. By 2 years of age, 31 offspr ing had islet antibodies, and 10 developed overt diabetes by the time of fo llow-up. RESULTS - In offspring from mothers with type 1 diabetes, duration of exclu sive and total breast-feeding did not differ between islet antibody-positiv e and -negative children, regardless of HLA genotype, and breast-feeding of 3 months or longer was not associated with protection from antibody develo pment or diabetes onset. In offspring from diabetic fathers, non-statistica lly significant reductions in exclusive and total breast-feeding times were observed in the antibody-positive cohort. Neither type nor quantity of vac cinations (including Bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccine; haemophilus influenza e vaccine; diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine; tick-born encephalit is vaccine; or measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine) were associated with th e development of islet antibodies and diabetes. Measles, mumps, and rubella were not reported in children with islet antibodies or diabetes. CONCLUSIONS - This study showed no evidence that proposed environmental fac tors affect islet antibody development in the first 2 years of life in offs pring from parents with type 1 diabetes.