Dairy-Derived Bioactive Peptides and the Risk of Prostate Cancer among Iranian Men: A Case-Control Study

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Epidemiology
• Biochemistry
• Oncology

Background:

• Prostate cancer (PCa) is a significant health concern globally.
• Dietary factors, including dairy consumption, are investigated for their role in PCa risk.
• Dairy-derived bioactive peptides (BPs) are hypothesized to possess health-promoting properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between dairy-derived digestion-resistant bioactive peptides (BPs) and prostate cancer (PCa) risk.
• To examine the relationship between overall dairy intake and PCa risk in Iranian men.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 50 men with PCa and 99 controls.
• Assessment of dietary, demographic, and anthropometric factors.
• In silico analysis to determine various types of dairy-derived BPs.

Main Results:

• No significant association was found between high intake of total digestion-resistant BPs, low/high molecular weight peptides, phosphorylated residues, disulfide bonds, or antioxidant peptides and PCa risk.
• Inverse association observed between low-fat dairy intake (OR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.05–0.66) and total dairy intake (OR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.06–0.79) with PCa risk.
• The BP content of dairy products was not significantly associated with PCa risk.

Conclusions:

• Dairy-derived bioactive peptides were not significantly associated with prostate cancer risk in this cohort.
• Dairy product consumption, particularly low-fat and total dairy, showed an inverse association with PCa risk in Iranian men.
• This study is the first to report on dairy-derived BPs and PCa risk, highlighting potential protective effects of dairy products.