The associations between dairy product consumption and biomarkers of inflammation, adipocytokines, and oxidative stress in children: a cross-sectional study

The association between dairy product consumption and biomarkers of inflammation, adipocytokines, and oxidative stress is poorly studied in children. Therefore, these associations were examined in a representative subsample of 1338 schoolchildren with a mean age of 11.5 (±0.7) years in the Healthy Growth Study. Information on dairy product consumption was collected by dietary recalls. Total dairy consumption was calculated by summing the intake of milk, yogurt, and cheese. Inflammatory markers, i.e., high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and adipocytokines, i.e., leptin, adiponectin, and the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were analysed. Due to the skewed distribution hs-CRP, IL-6, and leptin were log transformed. Multivariable regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, energy intake, physical activity, parental education, Tanner stage, and fat mass were used to assess the associations between consumption of total dairy, milk, yogurt, cheese, and markers of inflammation, adipocytokines, oxidative stress, and adiponectin−leptin ratio. Our results showed that milk consumption was inversely associated with leptin (β: −0.101; 95% CI: −0.177, −0.025, p = 0.009) and positively associated with the adiponectin−leptin ratio (β: 0.116; 95% CI: 0.020, 0.211; p = 0.018), while total dairy, cheese, and yogurt consumption were not associated with inflammatory, adipocytokine, or antioxidant markers. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these results

Meal patterns in healthy adults: Inverse association of eating frequency with subclinical atherosclerosis indexes

Background & aims: Meal patterns and their relationship with cardiovascular disease are insufficiently examined with important clinical implications. Our aim was to investigate associations between eating frequency (EF) and early markers of atherosclerosis. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we consecutively recruited 164 healthy subjects (46.8 +/- 9.3years, 62 men). EF among other dietary parameters and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis, including flow mediated dilatation (FMD), pulse wave velocity (PWV), intima media thickness (IMT) and the presence of plaques in the carotid arteries were evaluated in all volunteers. Results: EF was positively associated with total energy intake (El) and a favorable profile in terms of adiposity, glucose tolerance and blood lipids. Subjects with an increased EF (> median), had significantly lower IMT (p = 0.024) and prevalence of plaques (5.3% vs. 21.3%, p = 0.003), as compared to those below median. IMT and the prevalence of plaques were also significantly lower in those with increased EF compared with subjects with low EF belonging to the same group of energy intake (El) by El median. By multivariate regression analysis, carotid plaques remained significantly associated with EF (OR: 0.71, 95% Cl 0.56-0.89), while IMT also remained significantly associated with EF after adjustment for age and dietary factors (beta: -0.010, 95% Cl: -0.020 to -0.0002), but not after adding obesity-related risk factors. Conclusion: Increased EF is associated with lower prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries in apparently healthy individuals. Whether consumption of the same amount of energy in more eating episodes favorably affects cardiovascular risk should be further investigated. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved