title: Quantitative analysis of dietary protein intake and stroke risk.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To perform a meta-analysis of prospective studies to evaluate the relation between dietary protein intake and stroke risk.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant studies were identified by searching PubMed and Embase through November 2013, and by reviewing the reference lists of retrieved articles. We included prospective cohort studies that reported relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between dietary protein intake and stroke risk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The meta-analysis included 7 prospective studies involving 254,489 participants. The pooled RR of stroke for the highest compared with the lowest dietary protein intake was 0.80 (95% CI 0.66-0.99). Dose-response analysis indicated that a 20-g/d increment in dietary protein intake was associated with a 26% reduction in stroke risk. Stratifying by protein type, the RR of stroke for animal protein was 0.71 (95% CI 0.50-0.99). Sensitivity analysis restricted to studies with control for common risk factors yielded similar results, and omission of any single study did not change the overall result.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that moderate dietary protein intake may lower the risk of stroke.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhizhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Gelin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Wusheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Jiangsu Province, China. xfliu2@vip.163.com.
authors.forename: Xinfeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D016206:Databases, Bibliographic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins