Patterns of nutrients intakes in relation to glioma: A case-control study

Nutrient pattern analysis is an easy way to compare nutrient intakes across different nations due to the universality of nutrients nature. The current study aimed to investigate the relation between patterns of nutrients intake and glioma in a case-control study in Iranian adults.

In this hospital-based case-control study, we enrolled 128 pathologically confirmed new cases of glioma and 256 age and sex-matched controls. Dietary intakes of study participants were assessed using the validated Block-format 123-item semi-quantitative FFQ. Data on potential confounders were also collected through the use of pre-tested questionnaire.

Four nutrient patterns were identified through the use of factor analysis. Participants were categorized based on tertiles of nutrient patterns' scores. Adherence to the first nutrient pattern was not significantly associated with the odds of glioma (0.93; 0.40-2.15). Participants with greater adherence to the second nutrient pattern were less likely to have glioma in crude model (0.48; 0.28-0.83). The inverse association remained significant after controlling for age, sex and energy intake (0.42; 0.24-0.78). Further controlling for other potential confounders, including BMI, resulted in the disappearance of the association (0.52; 0.25-1.10). Greater adherence to the third nutrient pattern was directly associated with the odds of glioma (1.92; 1.10-3.35). Even after controlling for sex, age and energy intake, the association was statistically significant (2.83; 1.28-4.21). However, when other confounders were taken into account, the association became non-significant (2.28; 0.89-5.82). The fourth nutrient pattern was not associated with the odds of glioma (0.71; 0.35-1.42).

We failed to find any significant independent association between nutrient patterns and odds of glioma. Further studies needed to confirm these findings.