Maternal diabetes has been associated with fetal metabolic programming and long-term cardiometabolic effects in offspring, but data on early-life dermatologic outcomes remain limited. A large, population-based cohort study published in Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics evaluated whether exposure to maternal diabetes subtypes was associated with seborrheic dermatitis (SD) risk in offspring.
The analysis included 331,335 mother-child pairs. Diabetes subtypes assessed were type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), along with maternal HbA1c levels and pharmacologic treatment modality.
Findings
- SD incidence in the overall cohort was 4.5%.
- Offspring exposed to maternal diabetes had a higher frequency of SD compared with those without exposure (4.9% vs 4.4%; p<0.001).
- GDM showed the strongest association with SD in the overall cohort.
- Age-stratified analysis showed significantly increased SD risk during the first year of life across T1DM (p=0.033), T2DM (p=0.024), and GDM (p=0.019).
- Maternal diabetes was independently associated with higher offspring SD risk (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08-1.24).
- SD risk did not differ according to maternal glycemic control or treatment modality.
Maternal diabetes was associated with modestly higher SD risk in offspring, particularly during the first year of life. The findings support a potential association between intrauterine diabetic exposure and early-life dermatologic outcomes.
