Sood, Surbhi ORCID: 0000-0002-5671-4817, Feehan, Jack ORCID: 0000-0002-9627-1299, Itsiopoulos, Catherine, Wilson, Kirsty, Plebanski, Magdalena ORCID: 0000-0001-6889-3667, Scott, David ORCID: 0000-0001-5226-1972, Hebert, James R ORCID: 0000-0002-0677-2672, Shivappa, Nitin, Mousa, Aya ORCID: 0000-0002-7356-4523, George, Elena S ORCID: 0000-0002-1385-2371 and Courten, Barbora de (2022) Higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet Is associated with improved insulin sensitivity and selected markers of inflammation in individuals who are overweight and obese without diabetes. Nutrients, 14 (20). ISSN 2072-6643

Abstract

Insulin resistance (IR) and chronic low-grade inflammation are risk factors for chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to investigate two dietary indices: Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) and Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®), and their associations with direct measures of glucose metabolism and adiposity, and biochemical measures including lipids, cytokines and adipokines in overweight/obese adults. This cross-sectional study included 65 participants (males = 63%; age 31.3 ± 8.5 years). Dietary intake via 3-day food diaries was used to measure adherence to MDS (0–45 points); higher scores indicating adherence. Energy-adjusted DII (E-DII) scores were calculated with higher scores indicating a pro-inflammatory diet. IR was assessed using hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamps, insulin secretion by intravenous glucose tolerance test, adiposity by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and circulating cytokine and adipokine concentrations by multiplex assays. Higher MDS was associated with greater insulin sensitivity (β = 0.179; 95%CI: 0.39, 0.318) after adjusting for age, sex and % body fat, and lower NF-κB, higher adiponectin and adipsin in unadjusted and adjusted models. Higher E-DII score was associated with increased total cholesterol (β = 0.364; 95%CI: 0.066, 0.390) and LDL-cholesterol (β = 0.305; 95%CI: 0.019, 0.287) but not with adiposity, glucose metabolism, cytokines or adipokines. Greater MDS appears to be associated with decreased IR and inflammatory markers in overweight/obese adults.

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