Research Highlights Protective Epigenetic Effects of Maternal Type 1 Diabetes on Offspring
Recent research from Helmholtz Munich has revealedโ a potential protective effect of maternal type 1 diabetes (T1D) against the advancement of isletโ autoimmunity in children.A study, published in Nature metabolism (Ott et al., 2025, DOI: 10.1038/s42255-025-01403-w), identified โspecific DNA methylation patterns – epigenetic modifications – in children exposed to maternal T1D that correlate with โa reduced risk of developing islet autoimmunity.
Researchers found that children withโ islet autoimmunity โexhibited significantly โlower scores related to these protective epigenetic signatures, suggesting a link between these modifications andโข protection against the disease. the findingsโ indicate that environmental factors, specifically maternal T1D, can influence risk through epigenetic changes at key T1D risk genes.
Building on this discovery, a follow-up project led by โProf.Sandra Hummel, and supported by a $550,000 โgrant โfrom the Leona M. and โขHarry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, aims to delve deeper into the โmechanisms behind this protective effect. the research โขteam, collaborating with Prof. Ezio Bonifacio and colleagues fromโข the Center for regenerative therapies Dresden at the Technical University of Dresden, will investigate whichโ T1D risk genes areโค epigenetically influenced byโ maternal diabetes. Theyโค will also explore whether similar โขepigenetic effects are observed in children of mothers with gestational diabetes.
The project will also investigate potential protein and metabolomeโข biomarkers associated with DNA โขmethylationโ patterns,and how these molecularโ changes contributeโ to โprotection โคagainst islet โautoimmunity. Researchers will analyze โคbiosamples fromโ the GPPAD โstudies, the BABYDIAB โand BABYDIรT cohorts, and the Fr1da study.
The research is beingโ conductedโฃ by Dr. Raffael Ott and Prof. Sandra Hummel at the Institute forโ Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Munich. Helmholtz โคMunich, a leading biomedicalโฃ research center with approximately โ2,500 employees, focuses on environmentally caused diseases, including diabetes, obesity, allergies, and chronic lung diseases, with the goal of developing groundbreakingโ solutions for a healthier society. Itโข is a member of the Helmholtz Association, Germany’s โlargest scientific association.
Source: Ott et al., 2025: Blood methylomeโ signatures in children exposed to โฃmaternal typeโ 1 โขdiabetes are linked to protection against islet autoimmunity.โข Nature Metabolism. DOI: 10.1038/s42255-025-01403-w. https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-025-01403-w
Lastโ edited: 07.11.2025
