title: Dietary non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity and the risk of myocardial infarction: a case-control study in Italy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Oxidative processes have been related to atherosclerosis, but there is scanty information on the role of dietary antioxidants in the prevention of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The relationship between non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity (NEAC) and the risk of nonfatal AMI was investigated in a case-control study conducted in Milan, Italy, between 1995 and 2003. Cases were 760 patients below 75 years with a first episode of AMI and controls were 682 patients admitted to hospitals for acute conditions, who completed an interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire, tested for validity and reproducibility. NEAC (excluding coffee) was measured using Italian food composition tables in terms of ferric reducing-antioxidant power (FRAP), Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP). The odds ratios (OR) of AMI, and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI), were obtained by multiple logistic regression models including terms for main risk factors of AMI and total energy intake. NEAC was inversely related with the risk of AMI. The ORs for the highest quintile compared with the lowest one were 0.41 (95% CI, 0.27-0.63) for FRAP, 0.42 (95% CI, 0.27-0.65) for TEAC and 0.41 (95% CI, 0.27-0.62) for TRAP, with significant trends in risk. The inverse relationship was apparently stronger in women and in subjects aged ≥ 60 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results support a favorable role of dietary NEAC in the prevention of AMI, and encourage a high consumption of fruit and vegetables and a moderate consumption of wine and whole cereals.
authors: Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy; Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Rossi
authors: Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy; Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Praud
authors: Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Monzio Compagnoni
authors: Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Bellocco
authors: Functional Food and Metabolic Stress Prevention Laboratory, Agricolture Research Council, CRA-NUT, Rome, Italy.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Serafini
authors: Unit of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Parpinel
authors: Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy; Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: carlo.lavecchia@marionegri.it.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: La Vecchia
authors: Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Tavani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004032:Diet; D002523:Edible Grain; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables; D014920:Wine; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants
keywords: Antioxidants; Case-control study; Diet; Myocardial infarction; Non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity; Risk factors; Total antioxidant capacity