Dietary Antioxidant Insufficiency Is Associated With Increased Inflammatory Markers and Poorer Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Heart Failure.
Jia-Rong Wu, Eun Kyeung Song, Debra K Moser and 1 others
PMID 35404329WHAT IT FOUND
In heart failure patients, poor intake of antioxidant nutrients was common and linked to higher blood inflammation marker CRP and worse quality-of-life scores.
This is association only; it does not show that supplements or diet changes improve outcomes.
Key findings
01Among 265 patients with heart failure, the median number of dietary antioxidant insufficiencies was 4, and only 21 patients (8%) had none.
02Greater dietary antioxidant insufficiency was associated with higher CRP and lower IL-10 after adjustment for gender, ACEI use, NYHA class, comorbidity, and total energy intake.
03Greater dietary antioxidant insufficiency and higher CRP independently predicted poorer health-related quality of life after adjustment, with a mean Minnesota Living with Heart Failure score of 42.1 on a 0 to 105 scale where higher scores are worse.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was an observational study, so it cannot show that antioxidant insufficiency caused higher inflammation or worse quality of life, or that changing diet or taking supplements would improve outcomes. Dietary intake was self-reported using a 4-day food diary, with possible recording errors and social desirability, and was not confirmed by serum antioxidant concentrations. The authors noted that the measures were collected at one time point, which may not reflect dietary patterns or changes over time. Because this was a secondary analysis, some covariates, such as biomarkers of oxidative stress, were not available for adjustment. The paper reported a significant negative correlation with IL-10 in one sentence and also listed IL-10 among markers with no significant correlations in another, so the unadjusted IL-10 finding is unclear. Patients were recruited from three sites and excluded some conditions, so the results may not apply to all heart failure patients.
Declared interests
The paper states that the authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that antioxidant supplements or dietary changes will reduce inflammation or improve quality of life in heart failure. This was an observational association study, no intervention was tested, and diet was self-reported.