Maternal Type 2 Diabetes Not Linked to Reduced AD Risk in Children: Study

New research suggests maternal type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) does not independently influence the risk of atopic dermatitis (AD) in children.

Researchers for a retrospective cohort study analyzed electronic medical and birth records from Clalit Health Services in Israel (n = 314,224 mother-child pairs between 2010 and 2023) looking at whether maternal T2DM was associated with subsequent development of AD in offspring.

Maternal Metabolic Factors and Childhood AD Risk

Children born to mothers with T2DM demonstrated a lower crude prevalence of AD compared with children of mothers without T2DM (23% vs 26%; P < 0.001). However, after adjusting for maternal age, socioeconomic status, gestational age, smoking status, delivery type, ethnicity, and child sex, maternal T2DM was not significantly associated with AD development (adjusted odds ratio, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.87-1.03; P = 0.209).

The investigators also evaluated the potential impact of maternal glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist exposure before pregnancy. Among mothers with T2DM, prior GLP-1 receptor agonist use was not associated with differences in offspring AD prevalence.

Independent predictors of childhood AD included higher socioeconomic status, parental smoking, male sex, and maternal allergic rhinitis.

The authors noted that the apparent protective effect observed in unadjusted analyses was likely attributable to sociodemographic or diagnostic confounders rather than a true biological relationship. Study limitations include its retrospective design and reliance on ICD-10 coding for disease identification.

“Maternal T2DM was not found as a protective factor of AD in offspring,” the authors wrote. “The observed protective trend may reflect confounding by sociodemographic or diagnostic factors. Prospective studies incorporating metabolic, immunological, and environmental data are warranted.”

Source

Weissman S, et al. Dermatitis. 2026. Doi:10.1177/17103568261454831