james r. hebert

The prevalence rate of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is increasing worldwide, and the role of diet in its etiology has been established. The Dietary inflammatory index (DII) has attracted significant attention in evaluating associations between diet and diseases due to the role of chronic inflammation as an underlying cause of numerous disease processes. Therefore, the relationship between DII score and the risk of T2DM is evaluated in the Iranian population for the first time.

113 newly diagnosed T2DM patients and 226 apparently disease-free control cases aged 23-59 participated in this case-control study. A valid semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to assess dietary intake. Then, energy-adjusted DII (E-DII) scores were computed and categorized into quartiles based on values in the population study. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between DII and the risk of T2DM after controlling for important potential confounders and effect modifiers.

A significant association was observed between E-DII score and T2DM in the crude model (P-trend<0.001), model I (adjusted for physical activity, gender, education level, and family history of T2DM, P-trend<0.001), model II (adjusted for model I + body mass index, P-trend=0.005) (ORquartile4vs1 =2.98 (95% CI: 1.18, 9.12; P= 0.005).

A direct association was observed between DII score and the risk of T2D, implying that consuming a more anti-inflammatory diet would help to prevent T2DM. Future longitudinal studies should be conducted to further explore this association.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an inflammation-related condition and a common metabolic disorder in women at fertility ages. The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) is a validated nutritional tool for estimating the inflammatory potential of the diet. It is assumed that a high DII score (indicating a predominantly inflammatory diet) has an association with higher odds of PCOS. The current study aimed to investigate the association between DII and PCOS risk in women. 

This case-control study was conducted in 2019-2020 on 120 newly-diagnosed PCOS cases and 120 healthy controls aged 18-45 years in Khorramabad, Iran. DII was estimated based on a validated 168-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ).

The mean±SD of DII in PCOS patients was 0.40±2.09, while it was 0.45±1.92 in the control group (P<0.001). There was a positive association between increasing DII score and the risk of PCOS (odds ratio= 2.41; 95%CI: 1.15-5.02, P for trend =0.006) in the crude model as the fourth quartile was compared with the lowest one. This association was still significant in several models after adjusting for age and energy intake (P for trend <0.001), in the model adjusted for the physical activity level, education status, and family history of PCOS (P for trend=0.003), and also after additional adjustment for BMI (P for trend= 0.003).

The present study revealed that consuming more pro-inflammatory diets with higher DII scores is related to an increased risk of PCOS.

Obesity as a major cause of low-grade chronic inflammation is a global public health issue. Inflammation arising from obesity affects organs, such as kidney and liver, and is associated with chronic diseases. The present study aims to investigate the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and obesity indices in university students.

This cross-sectional study included 361 college students selected using a two-stage cluster random sampling. The inclusion criteria were healthy girls and boys in the 18-35 years age group, and the exclusion criteria included the presence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, taking supplements to weight loss or weight gain, and using alcohol and tobacco. DII scores were calculated from dietary data collected using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Anthropometric measurements were taken, and body composition was analyzed by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).

The mean age of the students was 21.94 ± 4.04 years, 53.2% were female, and the mean DII was 1.26 ± 1.08. Among the participants, 36.8% were overweight and obese and 9.1% suffered from abdominal obesity. The DII score was not associated with body weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat, waist circumference or visceral fat (both unadjusted and after adjustment for covariates).

The present study showed no association between the DII and obesity indices. Given the proven effects of both the DII and obesity on health indicators, it would be a good strategy to conduct studies with prospective designs to determine the exact effects of DII on obesity indicators.

Inflammation, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), is affected by diet.Dietary inflammatory index (DII) is used to determine inflammation of diet. In addition, Neck circumference (NC), an indicator for upper-body subcutaneous adipose tissue distribution, is related to cardiovascular risk factors. This study aimed to examine the correlation between DII and NC in a nationally representative sample case and control.
In this cross-sectional study, the case group was chronic heart disease patients hospitalized in Al-Zahra Heart Clinic, Shiraz, Iran (N = 100). The Control group did not suffer from any heart-related diseases. Dietary intake data were determined using a single interview and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). NC was assessed using standard methods. Nutritionist-4 software was used to analyze nutrient intakes from FFQ. The method of Shivappa et al. was used to calculate DII.
The mean of NC in the case and control group were 39.09±4.18 and 36.68±4.32 cm. The mean of DII in the case and control groups were -0.018±1.53 and 0.40±155. There was no significant difference between the DII score of the case and control groups (p:0.056, t:-1.922). No significant correlation was observed between DII score and NC in the case(p:0.750,r:0.032) and control(p:0.294,r:0.106) groups.
There was no correlation between DII score as a risk factor for CVD and NC in both case and control groups.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is considered as the most life-threatening pandemic disease during the last decade. The individual nutritional status, though usually ignored in the management of COVID-19, plays a critical role in the immune function and pathogenesis of infection. Accordingly, the present review article aimed to report the effects of nutrients and nutraceuticals on respiratory viral infections including COVID-19, with a focus on their mechanisms of action.

Studies were identified via systematic searches of the databases including PubMed/ MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar from 2000 until April 2020, using keywords. All relevant clinical and experimental studies published in English were included.

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is common in severe respiratory infections and should be considered in the management of COVID-19 patients. On the other hand, obesity can be accompanied by decreasing the host immunity. Therefore, increasing physical activity at home and a slight caloric restriction with adequate intake of micronutrients and nutraceuticals are simple aids to boost host immunity and decrease the clinical manifestations of COVID-19.

The most important nutrients which can be considered for COVID-19 management are vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin A, folate, zinc, and probiotics. Their adequacy should be provided through dietary intake or appropriate supplementation. Moreover, adequate intake of some other dietary agents including vitamin E, magnesium, selenium, alpha linolenic acid and phytochemicals are required to maintain the host immunity.

This cross-sectional study evaluates the relationship of the dietary inflammatory index (DII), a novel tool developed to measure the inflammatory capacity of a diet, with pulmonary functions and asthma control test (ACT) scores in asthmatic individuals. The study included 120 patients who were diagnosed with asthma for at least one year.  The anthropometric measurements, one-day long nutrition uptake records, pulmonary function tests, and ACT scores of the respondents were recorded and compared according to categories of the DII which was calculated from 24- hour recalls. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and ACT scores decreased with increasing DII tertiles (p<0.05). The total energy, carbohydrate, fat, and saturated fat uptake of the participants increased in parallel to DII (p<0.05); while vitamin A, C, and E uptakes, on the other hand, decreased as DII increased (p=0.0001). In conclusion, an increase in the inflammatory potential of diet among asthmatics decreases pulmonary functions and asthma control.