Dietary Inflammatory Index and liver status in subjects with different adiposity levels within the PREDIMED trial

Cantero, Irene; Abete, Itziar; Babio, Nancy; Arós, Fernando; Corella, Dolores; Estruch, Ramón; Fitó Colomer, Montserrat; Hebert, James R.; Martínez-González, Miguel Ángel, 1957-; Pinto, Xavier; Puy Portillo, Maria; Ruiz-Canela, Miguel; Shivappa, Nitin; Warnberg, Julia; Gómez-Gracia, Enrique; Tur, J. Antoni; Salas Salvadó, Jordi; Zulet, M. Angeles; Martínez,  J. Alfredo

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2017.06.027

Dietary Inflammatory Index and liver status in subjects with different adiposity levels within the PREDIMED trial

Citation

Cantero I, Abete I, Babio N, Arós F, Corella D, Estruch R. et al. Dietary Inflammatory Index and liver status in subjects with different adiposity levels within the PREDIMED trial. Clin Nutr. 2018 Oct;37(5):1736-1743. DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2017.06.027

Abstract

BACKGROUND & AIMS: To assess the possible association between a validated Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and specific dietary components with suitable non-invasive markers of liver status in overweight and obese subjects within the PREDIMED study. METHODS: A cross-sectional study encompassing 794 randomized overweight and obese participants (mean ± SD age: 67.0 ± 5.0 y, 55% females) from the PREDIMED (PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea) trial was conducted. DII is a validated tool evaluating the effect of diet on six inflammatory biomarkers (IL-1b, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and C-reactive protein). Furthermore, a validated 137-item food-frequency-questionnaire was used to obtain the information about the food intake. In addition, anthropometric measurements and several non-invasive markers of liver status were assessed and the Fatty Liver Index (FLI) score was calculated. RESULTS: A higher DII and lower adherence to Mediterranean diet (MeDiet) were associated with a higher degree of liver damage (FLI > 60) in obese as compared to overweight participants. Furthermore, the DII score was positively associated with relevant non-invasive liver markers (ALT, AST, GGT and FLI) and directly affected FLI values. Interestingly, a positive correlation was observed between liver damage (>50th percentile FLI) and nutrients and foods linked to a pro-inflammatory dietary pattern. CONCLUSIONS: This study reinforced the concept that obesity is associated with liver damage and revealed that the consumption of a pro-inflammatory dietary pattern might contribute to obesity and fatty liver disease features. These data suggest that a well-designed precision diet including putative anti-inflammatory components could specifically prevent and ameliorate non-alcoholic fatty liver manifestations in addition to obesity.