Assessment of Dietary Patterns Represents a Potential, Yet Variable, Measure of Inflammatory Status: A Review and Update

Table 2

Single nutrients and inflammatory markers.

Authors/origin/year	Study design/duration	Participants	Nutrient	Inflammatory markers measured	Results
Teunissen-Beekman et al. [61] England, 2015	(1) Postprandial study/12 H; (2) Crossover, randomized parallel group design/4 weeks each.; Data from the PROPRES study	(1) Postprandial study; (2) Crossover study ,; overweight/obese with untreated blood pressure.	(1) Postprandial responses after maltodextrin (shake) vs. sucrose vs. a specific protein mixture (pea, milk, and egg white protein).; (2) Four weeks of exchanging of CHO isoenergetically with a protein mix.	SAA, CRP, and sICAM. Fasting and postprandial (at 4 H)	(1) Postprandial CRP levels were higher 4 H after ingestion of the protein mix compared to maltodextrin, but there were no differences in sICAM and SAA. Postprandial sICAM levels were lower after pea protein vs. egg protein.; (2) Significantly lower sICAM fasting levels after 4 weeks on the high-protein diet. No changes in CRP or in SAA.
Ono-Moore et al. [25] US, 2016	Placebo-controlled crossover. Postprandial	, normal weight, aged 27-33 yrs.	650 calories moderate high-fat breakfast (40% fat) with placebo powder or with 2 or 4 servings of the blueberry powder served in yogurt	IL-1β, IL-6, IL 8, and TNF-α. Fasting and postprandial (at 3.5 H)	There were no substantial effect of the blueberry powder on the postprandial plasma cytokines or on marker expression.; All cytokines were decreased in the postprandial state compared to the fasting state; this correlates with decreased FFAs in the postprandial state.
Vitale et al. [54] Italy, 2016	Cross-sectional. Subset data from the TOSCA.IT study.	, with T2D, aged 50-75 yrs.	Fiber, added sugar, and different proportions of fat and CHO.	hsCRP	Fat intake increase from 25 to 35% or more is associated with an increasing hsCRP; contrary increasing CHO 45% to 60% or more was associated with lower hsCRP. The average GI of participants’ diet was low. Hs-CRP increases progressively when added sugar intake increases. Fiber is associated with lower hsCRP.
Cormier et al. [62] Canada, 2016	Omega-3 PUFA supplement. No control group/6 weeks.; Fatty Acid Sensor Study.	, aged 21-39 yrs., BMI range 24-31.5.	5 g/d of fish oil supplement: 1.9-2.1 g of EPA and 1.1 of DHA	CRP, IL-1, TNF-α, and IL-6 gene expression in peripheral mononuclear cells	There were no reductions in plasma IL-6, CRP, or TNF-α postintervention. Plasma n-3 levels were negatively correlated with plasma cytokines and CRP.; There were several gene-diet interactions with SNPs within inflammation-related genes and omega-3, but this varied according to individual genotypes.
Hosseini et al. [22] Iran, 2016	RCT, double-blind/30 days intervention	, healthy adults,; aged 30-60 yrs.	500 mg pomegranate extract (PE) or placebo (PL).	MDA, IL-6, and hsCRP	The PE group lost significantly more weight than the PL. The mean serum concentration of MDA, IL-6, and hsCRP decreased significantly in the PE group. Change in body weight was correlated with these parameters.
De Lorenzo et al. [63] Italy, 2017	Crossover RCT postprandial	, healthy	Tocopherol-enriched Mediterranean meal (TEM), 41% CHO/16% protein/42% fat vs. Western high-fat meal (HFM), 27% CHO/18% protein/55% fat.	Genes of the inflammasome pathway and genes of the oxidative stress pathway. Fasting and postprandial (at 3 H)	A single HFM resulted in upregulation of the human inflammasome pathway genes by 15.4% and of the human oxidative pathway by 15% when compared with a TEM. Additionally, a downregulation of CCL5 was observed after the TEM vs. the HFM.

Abbreviations. MDA: malondialdehyde; PROPRES: Protein and blood pressure study; RCT: randomized, controlled trial; SAA: serum amyloid A; TOSCA.IT: thiazolidinediones or sulfonylureas and cardiovascular accident intervention trial.