Frontiers in Nutrition (Apr 2023)

Meta-analysis of the association between dietary inflammatory index and cognitive health

  • Tianze Ding,
  • Tianze Ding,
  • Maimaitiyusupu Aimaiti,
  • Maimaitiyusupu Aimaiti,
  • Shishuang Cui,
  • Junhao Shen,
  • Mengjie Lu,
  • Lei Wang,
  • Dongsheng Bian,
  • Dongsheng Bian

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1104255
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

Read online

BackgroundSome studies have shown that a pro-inflammatory diet may be associated with cognitive function, but their conclusions have varied considerably. We here present a meta-analysis of the current published literature on DII score and its association with cognitive health.MethodsIn this meta-analysis, the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were searched in September 2022. The reported indexes, specifically OR, RR, and β, were extracted and analyzed using R version 3.1.0.ResultsA total of 636 studies in databases were identified, and 12 were included in the meta-analysis. Higher DII was associated with an increased risk of AD and MCI (OR = 1.34; 95% CI = 1.21–1.49). Meanwhile, it may also cause global function impairment (categorical: OR = 1.63; 95% CI = 1.36–1.96) and verbal fluency impairment (continuous: OR = 0.18; 95% IC = 0.08–0.42). But there was no significant association between DII and executive function (categorical: OR = 1.12; 95% IC = 0.84–1.49; continuous: OR = 0.48; 95% IC = 0.19–1.21) or episodic memory (continuous: OR = 0.56; 95% IC = 0.30–1.03).ConclusionA pro-inflammatory diet is related to AD, MCI, and the functions of some cognitive domains (specifically global function and verbal fluency). However, the current evidence on the role of diet-induced inflammation in different cognitive domains should be supported by further studies in the future.

Keywords