High intake of vegetables is linked to lower white blood cell profile and the effect is mediated by the gut microbiome.

Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101190723 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1741-7015 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 17417015 NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Med Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: [London] : BioMed Central, 2003-

Diet* ; Fruit* ; Leukocytes* ; Vegetables*; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/*genetics; Actinobacteria ; Adult ; Biomarkers/blood ; COVID-19 ; Clostridiales ; Clostridium ; Fasting ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-6/blood ; Leukocyte Count ; Lymphocyte Count ; Male ; Mediation Analysis ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics ; Ruminococcus ; SARS-CoV-2

Background: Chronic inflammation, which can be modulated by diet, is linked to high white blood cell counts and correlates with higher cardiometabolic risk and risk of more severe infections, as in the case of COVID-19.
Methods: Here, we assessed the association between white blood cell profile (lymphocytes, basophils, eosinophils, neutrophils, monocytes and total white blood cells) as markers of chronic inflammation, habitual diet and gut microbiome composition (determined by sequencing of the 16S RNA) in 986 healthy individuals from the PREDICT-1 nutritional intervention study. We then investigated whether the gut microbiome mediates part of the benefits of vegetable intake on lymphocyte counts.
Results: Higher levels of white blood cells, lymphocytes and basophils were all significantly correlated with lower habitual intake of vegetables, with vegetable intake explaining between 3.59 and 6.58% of variation in white blood cells after adjusting for covariates and multiple testing using false discovery rate (q < 0.1). No such association was seen with fruit intake. A mediation analysis found that 20.00% of the effect of vegetable intake on lymphocyte counts was mediated by one bacterial genus, Collinsella, known to increase with the intake of processed foods and previously associated with fatty liver disease. We further correlated white blood cells to other inflammatory markers including IL6 and GlycA, fasting and post-prandial glucose levels and found a significant relationship between inflammation and diet.
Conclusion: A habitual diet high in vegetables, but not fruits, is linked to a lower inflammatory profile for white blood cells, and a fifth of the effect is mediated by the genus Collinsella.
Trial Registration: The ClinicalTrials.gov registration identifier is NCT03479866 .

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MR/N01183X/1 United Kingdom MRC_ Medical Research Council; CDRF- 2018 Chronic Disease Research Foundation; MR/N030125/1 United Kingdom MRC_ Medical Research Council; AIMHY; MR/M016560/1 United Kingdom MRC_ Medical Research Council; CDRF-18/2019 Chronic Disease Research Foundation; ONCOBIOME-825410 project Horizon 2020 Framework Programme; ERC-STG project MetaPG H2020 European Research Council; 1U01CA230551 National Institute for Health Research; 212904/Z/18/ United Kingdom WT_ Wellcome Trust; R01 CA230551 United States CA NCI NIH HHS; MASTER-818368 project Horizon 2020; BB/NO12739/1 United Kingdom BB_ Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; MR/M016560/1 United Kingdom MRC_ Medical Research Council

Keywords: Chronic inflammation; Diet; Gut microbiome; Vegetable intake; White blood cell

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03479866

0 (Biomarkers)
0 (Interleukin-6)
0 (RNA, Ribosomal, 16S)

Date Created: 20210211 Date Completed: 20210222 Latest Revision: 20250104

20250104

PMC7875684

10.1186/s12916-021-01913-w

33568158