The Dietary Intake of Polyphenols Is Associated with a Lower Risk of Severe Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Case-Control Analysis from the PREFACE Study

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 14; no. 24; p. 5229
• Main Authors: Ruggiero, Emilia, Esposito, Simona, Costanzo, Simona, Di Castelnuovo, Augusto, Storto, Marianna, Carpineta, Ettore, Cerletti, Chiara, Donati, Maria Benedetta, Paolini, Sergio, Esposito, Vincenzo, de Gaetano, Giovanni, Innocenzi, Gualtiero, Iacoviello, Licia, Bonaccio, Marialaura
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Anti-inflammatory agents; Antioxidants; Bioactive compounds; Cardiovascular disease; case-control; Case-Control Studies; Cereals; Diabetes; Diet; Diet, Mediterranean; Dietary intake; Eating; Epidemiology; Flavonoids; Food; Food consumption; Fruits; Health aspects; Humans; Infant; Inflammation; lumbar spinal stenosis; Metabolism; Neurosurgery; Pathogenesis; Phenols; Physical activity; Polyphenols; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Risk; Risk factors; Spinal canal; Spinal Stenosis; Stenosis; Surgery; Surgical outcomes; Vertebrae, Lumbar; Womens health; Italy; case-control; lumbar spinal stenosis; polyphenols
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu14245229

Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds endowed with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. We sought to examine the association of dietary polyphenols with the risk of severe lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), a condition possibly characterized by a high inflammatory component. A case-control study included 156 patients with LSS and indication to surgery and 312 controls, matched (1:2) for sex, age (±6 months), and physical activity. The polyphenol intake was calculated by matching food consumption data from a 188-item food frequency questionnaire with the Phenol-Explorer database regarding the polyphenol content of each reported food. In a multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analysis including lifestyles, sociodemographic factors, and the Mediterranean Diet Score, a 1-standard deviation (SD) increase in dietary polyphenols intake was associated with lower odds of LSS (Odds ratio [OR] = 0.65; 95% CI: 0.47-0.89). Analyses of different polyphenol classes showed that a per 1-SD in the consumption of flavonoids and stilbenes was related to lower LSS risk (OR = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.42-0.78; OR = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.27-0.61, respectively). Further adjustment for the total dietary antioxidant capacity did not modify the strength of these associations. A diet rich in polyphenols is independently associated with a lower risk of severe LSS, possibly through mechanisms that include the anti-inflammatory potential of these bioactive compounds.