Interaction between gad65 antibodies and dietary fish intake or plasma phospholipid n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on incident adult-onset diabetes: The epic-interact study

Josefin E. Löfvenborg*, Sofia Carlsson, Tomas Andersson, Christiane S. Hampe, Albert Koulman, María Dolores Chirlaque Lopez, Paula Jakszyn, Verena A. Katzke, Tilman Kühn, Cecilie Kyrø, Giovanna Masala, Peter M. Nilsson, Kim Overvad, Salvatore Panico, Maria Jose Sánchez, Yvonne Van Der Schouw, Matthias B. Schulze, Anne Tjønneland, Elisabete Weiderpass, Elio RiboliNita G. Forouhi, Stephen J. Sharp, Olov Rolandsson, Nicholas J. Wareham

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Islet autoimmunity is associated with diabetes incidence. We investigated whether there was an interaction between dietary fish intake or plasma phospholipid n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentration with the 65-kDa isoform of GAD (GAD65) antibody positivity on the risk of developing adult-onset diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We used prospective data on 11,247 incident cases of adult-onset diabetes and 14,288 noncases from the EPIC-InterAct case-cohort study conducted in eight European countries. Baseline plasma samples were analyzed for GAD65 antibodies and phospholipid n-3 PUFAs. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for incident diabetes in relation to GAD65 antibody status and tertiles of plasma phospholipid n-3 PUFA or fish intake were estimated using Prentice-weighted Cox regression. Additive (proportion attributable to interaction [AP]) and multiplicative interactions between GAD65 antibody positivity (≥65 units/mL) and low fish/n-3 PUFA were assessed.

RESULTS: The hazard of diabetes in antibody-positive individuals with low intake of total and fatty fish, respectively, was significantly elevated (HR 2.52 [95% CI 1.76-3.63] and 2.48 [1.79-3.45]) compared with people who were GAD65 antibody negative and had high fish intake, with evidence of additive (AP 0.44 [95% CI 0.16-0.72] and 0.48 [0.24-0.72]) and multiplicative ( P = 0.0465 and 0.0103) interactions. Individuals with high GAD65 antibody levels (≥167.5 units/mL) and low total plasma phospholipid n-3 PUFAs had a more than fourfold higher hazard of diabetes (HR 4.26 [2.70-6.72]) and an AP of 0.46 (0.12-0.80) compared with antibody-negative individuals with high n-3 PUFAs.

CONCLUSIONS: High fish intake or relative plasma phospholipid n-3 PUFA concentrations may partially counteract the increased diabetes risk conferred by GAD65 antibody positivity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)416-424
Number of pages9
JournalDiabetes Care
Volume44
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2021

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