Type 1 diabetes and risk of Parkinson's disease: A nationwide nested case-control study

Abstract

Background: Recent Mendelian randomization studies have suggested a protective association of genetic liability to Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) with Parkinson's disease (PD). Objective: To investigate the association between clinically established T1DM and PD risk in a nationwide population-based cohort. Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database (2010-2022). Patients with incident PD were matched with controls by age and sex. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs), controlling for vascular and metabolic comorbidities. Results: T1DM was independently associated with an increased PD risk (aOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.06-1.90). The association was directionally consistent regardless of the presence of microvascular complication. Conclusion: In contrast to genetic studies, clinically established T1DM was associated with greater PD risk. These findings suggest that clinically established T1DM may be associated with increased PD risk through mechanisms beyond immunogenetic susceptibility, although the underlying pathways remain to be clarified.