Author
Affilliation
Abstract
In pregnant women, studies are lacking on the relationship of vegetable and animal flesh
(poultry, red meat and seafood) intake with inflammation, especially in low- and middle-income
countries. We conducted a cohort study of pregnant women receiving antenatal care at BJ Medical
College in Pune, India. The dietary intake of pregnant women was queried in the third trimester
using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Twelve inflammatory markers were measured in
plasma samples using immunoassays. Only 12% of the study population were vegetarians, although
animal flesh intake levels were lower compared to Western populations. In multivariable models,
higher intakes of total vegetables were associated with lower levels of the T-helper (Th) 17 cytokine
interleukin (IL)-17a (p = 0.03) and the monocyte/macrophage activation marker soluble CD163
(sCD163) (p = 0.02). Additionally, higher intakes of poultry were negatively associated with intestinal fatty-acid binding protein (I-FABP) levels (p = 0.01), a marker of intestinal barrier dysfunction and Th2
cytokine IL-13 (p = 0.03), and higher seafood was associated with lower IL-13 (p = 0.005). Our data
from pregnant women in India suggest that a higher quality diet emphasizing vegetables and with
some animal flesh is associated with lower inflammation. Future studies should confirm these
findings and test if modulating vegetables and animal flesh intake could impact specific aspects of
immunity and perinatal health.
Publisher
MDPI
Citation
YADANA, Su et al. Association of Vegetable and Animal Flesh Intake with Inflammation in Pregnant Women from India. Nutrients, v. 12, 2020.
DOI
10.3390/nu12123767
ISSN
2072-6643
Notes
ANDRADE, Bruno Bezerril de. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil. 1 Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health,
New York, NY 10032, USA; sy2821@cumc.columbia.edu
2 EcoHealth Alliance, New York, NY 10018, USA
3 Departments of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and Epidemiology, Milken Institute School of Public Health,
The GeorgeWashington University,Washington, DC 20052, USA; talega1@email.gwu.edu
4 Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA;
jsm9009@med.cornell.edu
5 Byramjee-Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College-Johns Hopkins University Clinical Research Site,
Pune 380016, India; mallika.alexander@yahoo.com (M.A.); vandanakulkarni_5@hotmail.com (V.K.);
prass87@gmail.com (P.D.); agupta25@jhmi.edu (A.G.)
6 Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA; kr489@cornell.edu
7 Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
8 International Center for Excellence in Research, National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Research
in Tuberculosis, Chennai 600031, India; pavanmedtech@gmail.com (P.K.); subbaraman.babu@nih.gov (S.B.)
9 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College,
Pune 380016, India; shilunnaik@yahoo.co.in (S.N.); drrameshbhosale@gmail.com (R.B.)
10 Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health,
New York, NY 10032, USA; cl94@cumc.columbia.edu
11 Instituto Goncalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador 40296-710, Brazil;
araujopereira.mariana@gmail.com (M.A.-P.); bruno.andrade@fiocruz.br (B.B.A.)
12 Multinational Organization Network Sponsoring Translational and Epidemiological Research,
Salvador 45204-040, Brazil
13 Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador 40110-100, Brazil
14 Curso de Medicina, Faculdade de Tecnologia e Ciências, Salvador 41741-590, Brazil
15 Universidade Salvador (UNIFACS), Laureate Universities, Salvador 41720-200, Brazil
16 Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública (EBMSP), Salvador 40290-000, Brazil
17 Center for Human Nutrition, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; lcaulfi1@jhu.edu
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