title: An Increase in Dietary Quality Is Associated with Favorable Plasma Biomarkers of the Brain-Adipose Axis in Apparently Healthy US Women.
abstract: The associations between long-term dietary quality and biomarkers of the brain-adipose axis have not been examined.
  
  
  
  We evaluated both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between dietary quality and several biomarkers involved in the brain-adipose axis.
  
  
  
  In the Nurses' Health Study II, 831 women [baseline mean age: 45 y; body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)): 24.6] were randomly selected from women who provided 2 fasting blood samples in 1996-1999 and 2010-2011 to measure plasma concentrations of leptin, soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R), adiponectin, insulin, retinol binding protein-4 (RBP-4), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Dietary quality was assessed by the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-2010) with the use of semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaires administered in 1995 and 2011. We used linear mixed models to evaluate the cross-sectional associations between dietary quality and biomarker concentrations. We also examined change in dietary quality in relation to change in biomarker concentrations.
  
  
  
  In cross-sectional analyses that compared the highest with the lowest quintile of AHEI-2010, we observed significantly lower leptin (P-trend < 0.0001), insulin (P-trend < 0.0001), and CRP (P-trend = 0.02) and significantly higher sOB-R (P-trend < 0.0001) and adiponectin (P-trend = 0.0003). These associations, except for CRP, remained significant after adjustment for BMI. In longitudinal analyses, women in the highest quintile of AHEI-2010 score change (most improvement) had a 13% increase in leptin, compared with a 42% increase (P-trend < 0.0001) in the lowest quintile (least improvement). The corresponding multivariable-adjusted percentage changes for other biomarkers were 4% compared with -1% for sOB-R (P-trend = 0.04), 14% compared with 6% for adiponectin (P-trend = 0.02), and -11% compared with 16% for CRP (P-trend = 0.02). Adjustment for interim weight change attenuated these associations. No associations were observed for RBP-4 or IL-6.
  
  
  
  Improvement in dietary quality was associated with favorable profiles of several biomarkers of the brain-adipose axis in women.
authors.affiliation: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, tih541@mail.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Tianyi
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8420-9167
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA;
authors.forename: Deirdre K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Tobias
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Epidemiology Program, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA;
authors.forename: Adela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hruby
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA; and.
authors.forename: Nader
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rifai
authors.affiliation: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Departments of Epidemiology and.
authors.forename: Shelley S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Tworoger
authors.affiliation: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Frank B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D054392:Adipokines / Q000097:blood*; D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood; D000273:Adipose Tissue; D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001921:Brain; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000517:prevention & control; D054411:Receptors, Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values; D054839:Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma / Q000378:metabolism; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D054392:Adipokines; D052242:Adiponectin; D015415:Biomarkers; D007328:Insulin; D015850:Interleukin-6; D020738:Leptin; C101326:RBP4 protein, human; D054411:Receptors, Leptin; D054839:Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: adiponectin; brain-adipose axis; dietary quality; leptin; soluble leptin receptor