Association of time spent in outdoor light and genetic susceptibility with the risk of type 2 diabetes

To explore the joint association of time spent in outdoor light and genetic susceptibility with the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). A total of 395,809 individuals of European ancestry with diabetes-free at baseline in the UK Biobank were included. Time spent in outdoor light on a typical day in summer or winter was obtained from the questionnaire. T2D genetic risk was quantified via the polygenic risk score (PRS) and divided into three levels based on tertiles (lower, intermediate, and higher). T2D cases were ascertained according to the hospital records of diagnoses. After the median follow-up of 12.55 years, the association of outdoor light time and T2D risk demonstrated a nonlinear (J–shaped) trend. Compared to individuals with an average of 1.5–2.5 h/day of outdoor light, individuals who spent <1.5 h/day or >2.5 h/day in outdoor light both had an elevated risk of T2D, and the risk of T2D related to <1.5 h/day outdoor light time was much higher (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.10, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.06 to 1.15). After combining with PRS, in comparison with the lower PRS – average 1.5–2.5 h/day outdoor light group (reference), the higher PRS – <1.5 h/day outdoor light group had the highest T2D risk (HR = 2.74, 95 % CI: 2.55 to 2.94), the higher PRS – >2.5 h/day outdoor light group also had a higher risk of T2D (HR = 2.58, 95 % CI: 2.43 to 2.74). The interaction between average outdoor light time and genetic susceptibility for T2D was statistically significant (Paverage for interaction <0.001). We found that optimal outdoor light time may modify the genetic risk for T2D. This suggests the T2D risk related to genetic factors could be prevented by spending optimal outdoor light time.