Associations between dietary inflammatory scores and biomarkers of inflammation in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort

Lucie Lécuyer, Nasser Laouali, Vivian Viallon, Fanny Artaud, James R. Hébert, Nitin Shivappa, Antonio Agudo, Anne Tjønneland, Lene Mellemkjær, Rudolf Kaaks, Verena A. Katzke, Matthias B. Schulze, Pauline Frenoy, Francesca Romana Mancini, Maria Santucci De Magistris, Alessandra Macciotta, Giovanna Masala, Claudia Agnoli, Rosario Tumino, Jolanda M.A. BoerW. M.Monique Verschuren, Torill M. Enget Jensen, Karina Standahl Olsen, Guri Skeie, María Dolores Chirlaque, Dafina Petrova, Carlota Castro-Espin, J. Ramón Quirós, Marcela Guevara, Pilar Amiano, Yan Borné, Maria Sandström, Lena Maria Nilsson, Alicia K. Heath, Ana Lucia Mayen, Inge Huybrechts, Elisabete Weiderpass, Marie Christine Boutron-Ruault, Laure Dossus, Sabina Rinaldi, Thérèse Truong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background: Since the first version of the dietary inflammatory index (DII®) developed in the past decade, several other versions have been developed. However, to date no study has attempted to compare these versions with respect to their associations with biomarkers of inflammation. Objective: We aimed to investigate the relationship between four dietary inflammatory scores [DII, two energy-adjusted derivatives (E-DII and E-DIIr), and the Inflammatory Score of the Diet (ISD)], and circulating levels of several inflammatory markers and adipokines. Methods: This study included 17 637 participants from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort with at least one marker of inflammation measured in blood. Associations between the four scores and C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)6, IL10, IL1RA, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (sTNFR1), sTNFR2, leptin, soluble leptin receptor (sLeptin R), adiponectin, and High Molecular Weight (HMW) adiponectin were evaluated using multivariable linear regressions adjusted for potential confounders. Results: Positive associations were observed between the four dietary inflammatory scores and levels of CRP, IL6, sTNFR1, sTNFR2 and leptin. However, only the DII and the ISD were positively associated with IL1RA levels and only the DII and the E-DIIr were positively associated with TNFα levels. The proportion of variance of each biomarker explained by the scores was lower than 2%, which was equivalent to the variance explained by smoking status but much lower than that explained by body mass index. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the four dietary inflammatory scores were associated with some biomarkers of inflammation and could be used to assess the inflammatory potential of diet in European adults but are not sufficient to capture the inflammatory status of an individual. These findings can help to better understand the inflammatory potential of diet, but they need to be replicated in studies with repeated dietary measurements.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1115-1125
JournalClinical Nutrition
Volume42
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023 Jul

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC) (grant RF20180207126 ). The funders had no role in the design, analysis, or writing of this article. The coordination of EPIC is financially supported by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and also by the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London , which has additional infrastructure support provided by the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Center (BRC). The national cohorts are supported by: Danish Cancer Society (Denmark); Ligue Contre le Cancer , Institut Gustave Roussy , Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale , Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) , Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (grant number ANR-10-COHO-0006 ), the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI, grant number 2102 918823 ) (France); German Cancer Aid , German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam Rehbruecke (DIfE), Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (Germany); Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro-AIRC-Italy , Compagnia di San Paolo and National Research Council (Italy); Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) (The Netherlands); Health Research Fund (FIS)— Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Regional Governments of Andalucía, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia and Navarra, and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (Spain); Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Research Council and County Councils of Skåne and Västerbotten (Sweden); Cancer Research UK ( 14136 to EPIC-Norfolk; C8221/A29017 to EPIC-Oxford), Medical Research Council ( 1000143 to EPIC-Norfolk; MR/M012190/1 to EPIC-Oxford) (United Kingdom). The EPIC-Norfolk study (DOI 10.22025/2019.10.105.00004) has received funding from the Medical Research Council ( MR/N003284/1 , MC-UU_12015/1 and MC_UU_00006/1 ) and Cancer Research UK ( C864/A14136 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology

Free keywords

  • Biomarkers
  • Cohort
  • Dietary inflammatory scores
  • EPIC
  • Inflammation

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