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

Abstract

The impact of dietary inflammatory potential on serum cytokine concentrations in second and third trimesters of Chinese pregnant women is not clear. A total of 175 pregnant women from the Tianjin Maternal and Child Health Education and Service Cohort (TMCHESC) were included. The dietary inflammatory index (DII) was calculated based on 24-h food records. Serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, C-reactive protein (CRP), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) levels in the second and third trimesters were measured. The mean DII scores (mean ± SD) were −0.07 ± 1.65 and 0.06 ± 1.65 in the second and third trimesters, respectively. In the third trimester, IL-1β (p = 0.039) and MCP-1 (p = 0.035) levels decreased and then increased with increasing DII scores. IL-10 concentrations decreased in pregnant women whose DII scores increased between the second and third trimesters (p = 0.011). Thiamin and vitamin C were negatively correlated with MCP-1 (β = −0.879, and β = −0.003) and IL-6 (β = −0.602, and β = −0.002) levels in the third trimester. In conclusion, the DII score had a U-shaped association with cytokine levels during the third trimester. Changes in DII scores between the second and third trimesters of pregnancy were correlated with cytokine levels during the third trimester.

Dietary Inflammatory Index during Pregnancy and Congenital Heart Defects

“…These similar dietary components may explain why those dietary patterns and scores all showed potential health benefits for fetal cardiovascular development. Compared with other dietary scoring systems such as MDS and GDQS that were also reported to show good predictive value for CHD [ 14 ], the maternal DII score reflects the inflammation potential of one diet as a whole and has been shown in high relation with maternal cytokine levels such as TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-8, IL-6, IL-10, MCP-1, and C-reactive protein [ 36 , 37 ]. The DII is based on an extensive literature search on the effect of diet on inflammation and is independent on specific means or recommendations of food/nutrient intake [ 13 ], which is different from the MDS and GDQS.…”

Maternal pre-pregnancy diet and prenatal depression: the mediating role of pre-pregnancy weight status and prenatal inflammation

“…In another pregnancy study, there was a significant different in the second trimester CRP levels between those with low versus high DII (based on the median scores) only among individuals with complicated pregnancy; there were no significant differences in the other trimesters, for other inflammatory cytokines or in non-complicated pregnancy (93) . A study among Chinese pregnant women found a U shape association between DII scores and pro-inflammatory biomarkers in the third trimester, with circulating inflammatory cytokines first decreasing and then increasing with the increasing DII scores (94) . These inconsistent findings might be due to the different dietary assessment methods, different ways of DII calculation (point versus weighted mean), different study populations, as well as the fact that the inflammatory status fluctuates during pregnancy, and there might be a buffering system to change the prenatal inflammatory status in response to external effectors like diet, to ensure a normal pregnancy (94) .…”

“…A study among Chinese pregnant women found a U shape association between DII scores and pro-inflammatory biomarkers in the third trimester, with circulating inflammatory cytokines first decreasing and then increasing with the increasing DII scores (94) . These inconsistent findings might be due to the different dietary assessment methods, different ways of DII calculation (point versus weighted mean), different study populations, as well as the fact that the inflammatory status fluctuates during pregnancy, and there might be a buffering system to change the prenatal inflammatory status in response to external effectors like diet, to ensure a normal pregnancy (94) .…”