Associations between dietary patterns and intestinal inflammation among HIV-infected and uninfected adults: A cross-sectional study in Tanzania

Evangelista Kenan Malindisa*, Haruna Dika, Andrea Mary Rehman, Belinda Kweka, Jim Todd, Mette Frahm Olsen, Rikke Krogh-Madsen, Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, Henrik Friis, Daniel Faurholt-Jepsen, Paul Kelly, Suzanne Filteau, George PrayGod

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

The increased burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is fueled by lifestyle factors including diet. This cross-sectional study explored among Tanzanian adults whether unhealthy dietary patterns are associated with intestinal and systemic inflammation which could increase the risk of NCDs. The study included 574 participants, with both diet and inflammatory markers data. Dietary patterns were derived using principal component analysis and reduced rank regression, revealing three main patterns: vegetable-rich, vegetable-poor, and carbohydrate-dense diets. Fecal myeloperoxidase (MPO) and neopterin (NEO) were markers of intestinal inflammation whereas plasma lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were assessed as markers of systemic inflammation. Ordinal logistic regression was used to assess associations between terciles of dietary patterns and quintiles of the inflammatory markers adjusting for potential confounders. High adherence to a vegetable-poor dietary pattern was associated with elevated MPO (adjusted OR, 1.7 95% CI 1.1, 2.8). NEO tended to be higher in people with high adherence to both vegetable-poor pattern (adjusted OR, 2.6 95% CI 1.0, 6.4) and vegetable-rich pattern (adjusted OR, 2.7, 95% CI 1.1, 6.5). No associations were found between dietary patterns and systemic inflammation markers (LBP and CRP). We found links between dietary vegetable intake and intestinal inflammation but not systemic inflammation. However, the cross-sectional nature of the study limits establishing causality and the sample size for some variables may have been inadequate, emphasizing the need for further studies to understand how dietary habits influence inflammation in this population.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0311693
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume19
Issue number12
Number of pages14
ISSN1932-6203
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

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© 2024 Malindisa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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