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Associations between Urinary Lignans and Cardiometabolic Risk Markers in Pregnant Women: Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2010
Author(s) -
Shi Ling,
Simas Tiffany A Moore,
Lichtenstein Alice H,
Sun Qi,
Hayman Laura L
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1154.27
Subject(s) - national health and nutrition examination survey , enterolactone , medicine , phytoestrogens , physiology , lignan , urinary system , body mass index , environmental health , population , estrogen , biology , botany
Objective Prior evidence suggests that phytoestrogens (i.e. isoflavones and lignans) may mitigate inflammation, attenuate insulin resistance, and improve blood lipids. These data are mainly limited to postmenopausal women or patients with existing cardiometabolic disorders. There is a lack of data for pregnant women who are at elevated risk of developing glucose and lipid abnormalities, partially attributable to elevated estrogen concentrations. Previously, we reported a significant, negative association between urinary soy isoflavones and some cardiometabolic risk markers in pregnant US women. As lignans containing foods such as flax seed, sesame seed, whole grains, and cruciferous vegetables are more commonly consumed than soy in the US, our aim was to investigate the association between urinary lignans (enterodiol and enterolactone) with blood biomarkers of cardiometabolic risks in pregnant women. Methods We analyzed data from 480 pregnant women who participated in the 1999–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and had data for urinary lignan concentrations. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to examine the association between urinary lignan concentrations and cardiometabolic risk markers, adjusted for pregnancy trimester, demographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity, education) and lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity). Cardiometabolic risk markers were log‐transformed and geometric means were calculated by quartiles of urinary lignan concentrations. Results The mean age of the participants was 28 ± 0.5 years; the majority (52%) of them were non‐Hispanic White, and 59% attained a college degree or higher. Subjects who were older than 35 years, Non‐Hispanic white or Mexican American had higher lignans concentrations. Increasing urinary lignan concentrations were associated with a more beneficial cardiometabolic profile: comparing women in the highest versus lowest quartiles of total lignan concentrations, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) was 61.5 versus 53.6 mg/dL (P for trend = 0.01); triacylglycerol (TG) was 140.9 versus 171.3 mg/dL (P for trend = 0.004); TG/HDL ratio was 2.3 versus 3.2 (P for trend = 0.001); C‐reactive protein (CRP) was 0.4 versus 0.7 mg/dL (P for trend = 0.01); and fasting insulin was 7.7 versus 13.9 μU/mL (P for trend < 0.0001). Analogous results were found in the concentrations of enterodiol and enterolactone. Conclusions Lignan intake may have favorable effects on cardiometabolic risk markers in pregnant women. Support or Funding Information This study was supported by the Life Sciences Moment Fund (Shi L) from the UMASS Clinical and Translational Science Award (UMCCTS) Pilot Award Program.