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Vitamins and Plant Ingredients

Total dietary antioxidant capacity and lung function in an Italian population: a favorable role in premenopausal/never smoker women

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 66, pages 61–68 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Antioxidant-rich foods may favorably influence lung function. We examined possible associations between the total dietary antioxidant capacity (TAC) and pulmonary function in a healthy Italian population.

Subjects/Methods:

Until May 2009, 22 300 persons were randomly recruited from the general population in the Moli-sani project. A sample only including healthy women (5824) and men (5848) was analyzed. TAC was measured in foods by three different assays and the ferric reducing-antioxidant power (FRAP) assay was selected as the better indicator of dietary TAC. The European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Food Frequency Questionnaire was used for dietary assessment. The association between quintiles of dietary FRAP and pulmonary indexes was assessed using analysis of variance separately for men and women.

Results:

After adjustment for confounders, women in the highest quintile of FRAP intake had +39 ml forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and +54 ml forced vital capacity, compared with those in the lowest quintile (P for trend ⩽0.006). Stratified analysis showed that this relationship only occurred in women who were premenopausal/never smokers. In this subgroup, the observed effect of higher FRAP intake on FEV1 was equivalent to an improvement in pulmonary age of 3.3 years. In men, all significant associations between pulmonary function and TAC were lost after adjustment for confounding.

Conclusions:

Dietary TAC may have a favorable role in respiratory health, particularly in premenopausal/never smoker women.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Professor Jozef Vermylen, Catholic University, Leuven, for his critical review of the paper. The Moli-sani Project enrolment and the observational analysis reported here were supported by research grants from Pfizer Foundation (Rome, Italy), the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR, Rome, Italy)—Programma Triennale di Ricerca, Decreto no. 1588 and the Fondazione Invernizzi.

Author information

Author notes

  1. R di Giuseppe, A Arcari, M Serafini, A Di Castelnuovo, F Zito, A De Curtis, S Sieri, V Krogh, N Pellegrini, H J Schünemann, M B Donati, G de Gaetano and L Iacoviello: Moli-sani Project Investigators are listed in the Appendix.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio di Epidemiologia Genetica ed Ambientale, Laboratori di Ricerca, Fondazione di Ricerca e Cura ‘Giovanni Paolo II’, Campobasso, Italy

    R di Giuseppe, A Arcari, A Di Castelnuovo, F Zito, A De Curtis, M B Donati, G de Gaetano & L Iacoviello

  2. Antioxidant Research Laboratory, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione, Rome, Italy

    M Serafini

  3. Ospedale San Timoteo, Termoli, Italy

    F Zito

  4. Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, National Cancer Institute, Milan, Italy

    S Sieri & V Krogh

  5. Department of Public Health, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    N Pellegrini

  6. Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    H J Schünemann

Authors
  1. R di Giuseppe
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  7. S Sieri
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on behalf of the Moli-sani Project Investigators

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L Iacoviello.

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Appendix

Appendix

Moli-sani Project Investigators

Chairperson: Licia Iacoviello (Campobasso, Italy).

Steering committee: Maria Benedetta Donati (Campobasso, Italy) and Giovanni de Gaetano(Campobasso, Italy) (Chairpersons), Simona Giampaoli (Roma, Italy).

Safety and data monitoring committee: Jos Vermylen (Leuven, Belgio), Chairman, Ignacio De Paula Carrasco (Roma, Italy).

Event adjudicating committee: Deodato Assanelli (Brescia, Italy), Francesco Alessandrini (Campobasso, Italy), Vincenzo Centritto (Campobasso, Italy), Paola Muti (Roma, Italy), Holger Schünemann (Hamilton, Canada)), Pasquale Spagnuolo (Termoli, Italy), Dante Staniscia (Termoli, Italy), Sergio Storti (Campobasso, Italy).

Scientific and organizing secretariat: Francesco Zito (Coordinator, Campobasso and Termoli, Italy), Americo Bonanni (Campobasso, Italy), Chiara Cerletti (Campobasso, Italy), Amalia De Curtis (Campobasso, Italy), Augusto Di Castelnuovo (Campobasso, Italy), Licia Iacoviello (Campobasso, Italy), Antonio Mascioli (Campobasso, Italy), Marco Olivieri (Campobasso, Italy).

Data management and analysis (Campobasso, Italy): Augusto Di Castelnuovo (Coordinator), Antonella Arcari, Floriana Centritto (till December 2008), Simona Costanzo, Romina di Giuseppe, Francesco Gianfagna.

Informatics (Campobasso, Italy): Marco Olivieri (Coordinator), Maurizio Giacci, Antonella Padulo (till September 2008), Dario Petraroia (till September 2007).

Biobank and biochemical analyses (Campobasso and Termoli, Italy): Amalia De Curtis (Coordinator), Sara Magnacca, Federico Marracino (till June 2009), Maria Spinelli, Christian Silvestri (till December 2007), Cristina Vallese (till September 2008).

Genetics (Campobasso, Italy): Daniela Cugino, Monica de Gaetano (till October 2008), Mirella Graziano, Iolanda Santimone, Maria Carmela Latella (till December 2008), Gianni Quacquaruccio (till December 2007).

Communication (Campobasso, Italy): Americo Bonanni (Coordinator), Marialaura Bonaccio, Francesca De Lucia.

Moli-family Project (Campobasso, Italy): Branislav Vohnout (Coordinator) (till December 2008), Francesco Gianfagna, Andrea Havranova (till July 2008), Antonella Cutrone (till October 2007).

Recruitment staff (Campobasso and Termoli, Italy): Franco Zito (General Coordinator), Secretariat: Mariarosaria Persichillo (Coordinator), Angelita Verna, Maura Di Lillo (till March 2009), Irene Di Stefano (till March 2008), Blood sample: Agostino Pannichella, Antonio Rinaldo Vizzarri, Branislav Vohnout (till December 2008), Agnieszka Pampuch (till August 2007); Spirometry: Antonella Arcari (Coordinator), Daniela Barbato (till July 2009), Francesca Bracone, Simona Costanzo, Carmine Di Giorgio (till September 2008), Sara Magnacca, Simona Panebianco (till December 2008), Antonello Chiovitti (till March 2008), Federico Marracino (till December 2007), Sergio Caccamo (till August 2006), Vanesa Caruso (till May 2006); Electrocardiogram: Livia Rago (Coordinator), Daniela Cugino, Francesco Zito, Alessandra Ferri (till October 2008), Concetta Castaldi (till September 2008), Marcella Mignogna (till September 2008); Tomasz Guszcz (till January 2007), Questionnaires: Romina di Giuseppe, (Coordinator), Paola Barisciano, Lorena Buonaccorsi, Floriana Centritto (till December 2008), Francesca De Lucia, Francesca Fanelli (till January 2009), Iolanda Santimone, Anna Sciarretta, Maura Di Lillo (till March 2009), Isabella Sorella (till September 2008), Irene Di Stefano (till March 2008), Emanuela Plescia (till December 2007), Alessandra Molinaro (till December 2006), Christiana Cavone (till September 2005).

Call Center (Campobasso, Italy): Giovanna Galuppo (till June 2009), Maura Di Lillo (till March 2009), Concetta Castaldi (till September 2008), Dolores D’Angelo (till May 2008), Rosanna Ramacciato (till May 2008).

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di Giuseppe, R., Arcari, A., Serafini, M. et al. Total dietary antioxidant capacity and lung function in an Italian population: a favorable role in premenopausal/never smoker women. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 61–68 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.148

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