Association of Dietary Inflammatory Index with Serum IL-6, IL-10, and CRP Concentration during Pregnancy

Abstract

Background: The mother’s diet has a direct impact on fetal development and pregnancy, and can also be important in the course of the body’s inflammatory response. An anti-inflammatory diet can be a promising way to counter an excessive inflammatory response in pregnancy. Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and the pregnant women’s serum interleukin 6 (IL-6) and 10 (IL-10) and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration in the course of normal and complicated pregnancy. Research Methods and Procedures: The study included 45 Polish pregnant women recruited to the study. The DII, a literature-based dietary index to assess the inflammatory properties of diet, was estimated based on a seven-day 24-h recall and an food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in each trimester of pregnancy. At the same time as the nutritional interviews, blood samples were collected for the determination of IL-6, IL-10, and CRP concentrations. The studied group was divided into subgroups with normal and complicated pregnancy and depending on the DII median. Results: With the development of pregnancy, the DII score slightly decreased in subsequent trimesters: −1.78 in the first trimester, −2.43 in the second trimester, and −2.71 in the third trimester (p = 0.092). Independent of the trimester of pregnancy and the occurrence of pregnancy complications, the DII score did not affect the differences in the serum concentrations of IL-6, IL-10, and CRP, with the exception of CRP level in the second trimester in women with complicated pregnancy (subgroup with DII < median had a lower CRP level than subgroup with DII > median). In the first and third trimesters, there was a weak but significant positive correlation between the DII score and CRP concentration. During the second trimester, in the group with normal pregnancy and DII below the median, a significant negative correlation between the DII score and the serum IL-6 and IL-10 concentration was noted as well as in the third trimester for IL-6. Conclusion: The anti-inflammatory potential of a pregnant woman’s diet increases slightly with pregnancy development; however, its value has no permanent significant association with the level of CRP, IL-6, and IL-10.

Relationship between the Dietary Inflammatory Index Score and Cytokine Levels in Chinese Pregnant Women during the Second and Third Trimesters

“…In the present study, the mean DII scores in the second and third trimesters were approximately 0, which is similar to the findings in other provinces in China [ 41 , 57 , 58 ]. The DII scores of pregnant women in Poland [ 46 ], adults in Europe [ 59 ], and Caucasians [ 60 ] were all lower than the general scores of pregnant women in China. However, the DII scores of pregnant women in Iran [ 61 ] were higher than those of pregnant women in China.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that the DII score is correlated with health problems in offspring [ 43 , 44 , 45 ], but evidence of the relationship between the DII score and cytokine levels in pregnant women is limited. One study investigated the relationship between the DII scores of pregnant women and three cytokine levels in the first, second, and third trimesters, but different relationships were found among the different trimesters and groups [ 46 ]. As pregnancy is considered to be a natural inflammatory state [ 47 , 48 , 49 ], molecular immune response pathways are different from those in nonpregnant adults, and it is unclear whether the DII score affects cytokine levels in pregnant women in the same way that it affects nonpregnant adults.…”

Longitudinal changes in circulating concentrations of inflammatory markers throughout pregnancy: are there associations with diet and weight status?

“…Our results are in contrast with previous studies among pregnant women (Moore et al, 2018, Sen et al, 2016 and with the fact that a pro-inflammatory diet should be associated with higher concentrations of inflammatory markers. Still, other studies found few or no association between the DII and concentrations of CRP and IL-6 among pregnant women (McCullough et al, 2017, Pieczynska et al, 2020. Pregnancy-induced inflammation most certainly differs from the systemic inflammation of non pregnant populations.…”

“…The DII is a literature-derived, population-based index developed to assess the inflammatory potential properties of a population's diet (Shivappa et al, 2014). The revised version of the DII includes 45 food parameters but as shown in various other studies, it is possible to calculate the DII with less than 45 food parameters (Pieczynska et al, 2020, Sen et al, 2016, Shin et al, 2017, Yang et al, 2020. In the present study, dietary data was available for the following 29 nutrients: energy, fat, alcohol, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, n-3 fatty acids, n-6 fatty acids, trans fatty acids, cholesterol, carbohydrate, protein, dietary fiber, caffein, vitamins A, B 1 , B 2 , B 6 , B 12 , C and D, beta-Carotene, alpha-tocopherol, folate, iron, magnesium, niacin, selenium and zinc.…”

“…Finally, all food parameters' centered proportions are multiplied by their respective overall inflammatory effect score, which are then summed to obtain each participant's total DII (Shivappa et al, 2014). Although the DII was not developed for pregnant populations, it has been used in numerous cohorts of pregnant women (McCullough et al, 2017, Moore et al, 2018, Pieczynska et al, 2020, Sen et al, 2016, Shin et al, 2017, Yang et al, 2020.…”