Effects of Dietary Patterns on Biomarkers of Inflammation and Immune Responses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

ABSTRACT

Altered immune cell phenotype and chronic inflammation are key features shared by various chronic diseases. Evidence from nutritional interventions aimed at alleviating inflammation could be a promising approach for the prevention of adverse health outcomes. We therefore aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to summarize the recent evidence on the effects of dietary patterns on inflammatory and immune-related biomarkers in humans. PubMed, Medline, and Web of Science databases were searched for publications up to October 2020. In total, 22 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The Mediterranean diet appeared as the dietary pattern that showed the most prominent reductions of inflammatory biomarkers such as IL-6 [mean difference (MD): –1.07 pg/mL (95% CI: –1.94, –0.20); I2: 96%], IL-1β [MD: –0.46 pg/mL (95% CI: –0.66, –0.25); I2: 0%], and C-reactive protein [MD: –1.00 mg/L (95% CI: –2.02, 0.01); I2: 100%]. No substantial effects were observed for the additional dietary patterns studied in intervention research, including the Dietary Adherence to Stop Hypertension diet, and the vegetarian or vegan diets. Future large-scale multifactorial intervention studies are warranted to allow direct comparison of various dietary patterns in relation to a range of biomarkers reflecting multiple inflammatory and immune-related pathways.