Association between dietary intake of some antioxidant micronutrients with some inflammatory and antioxidant markers in active Rheumatoid Arthritis patients

Abstract

Abstract. Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease. Antioxidants intake and body antioxidants status are important in patients with RA. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between dietary intake of some antioxidant micronutrients with some inflammatory and antioxidant markers in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis and comparison with Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, eighty-seven patients with active rheumatoid arthritis were included. Dietary antioxidants intake was measured using 24-hour recall questionnaire and food record (3 days). Blood levels of inflammatory and antioxidant markers were determined by laboratory tests. The association between intake of antioxidants with inflammatory and antioxidant markers, and also with RDA were determined using Paired-Samples t-test and Pearson correlation by SPSS software. Results: The findings showed that intakes of vitamin E, zinc, and magnesium in patients were significantly lower and intakes of copper and selenium were significantly higher than RDA (P < 0.05). Significant negative correlations were observed between vitamin A intake with PGE2 [R = −0.31], vitamin C intake with IL-1β [R = −0.25], zinc intake with PGE2 [R = −0.30], IL-2 [R = −0.23], and the activity of glutathione reductase enzyme [R = −0.21], magnesium intake with PGE2 [R = −0.24], IL-1β [R = −0.23] and IL-2 [R = −0.25], and selenium intake with PGE2 [R = −0.21] (P < 0.05). Also, significant positive correlations were observed between intakes of vitamin E and copper with catalase enzyme activity [R = 0.22 and R = 0.21 respectively] (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Some of the antioxidant micronutrients play important roles in the reduction of inflammatory conditions and improve the function of antioxidant enzymes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.