The association between diet quality index-international and inflammatory markers in Iranian overweight and obese women

OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to evaluate whether there is a link between the diet quality index (DQI) and markers of systemic inflammation in Iranian overweight and obese women. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 200 Iranian overweight and obese women aged 18–48 years. The DQI-international (DQI-I) comprises four main components: variety, adequacy, moderation, and overall balance. Blood samples were collected in a fasted state to measure inflammatory markers. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, total energy intake, economic status, education, supplement intake, age of starting obesity, and history of body mass loss, a marginally significant negative association was observed between the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA–IR) and the DQI–I (β: −0.015, 95% CI: −0.03, 0.000; p = 0.061). The results after adjustment showed that DQI–I has a negative association with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs–CRP) concentrations (β: −0.031, 95% CI: −0.104, −0.031; p = 0.023). Furthermore, negative associations were observed between the adequacy component and levels of HOMA–IR (β: −0.025, 95% CI: −0.100, 0.047, p = 0.050) and hs-CRP (β: −0.615, 95% CI: −1.191, −0.020; p = 0.045). In addition, negative associations were found between transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and balance score (β: −6.270, 95% CI: −39.211, −3.661, p = 0.020), as well as HOMA–IR (β: −0.080, 95% CI: −0.202, −0.000, p = 0.041) and chemoattractant protein−1 (MCP−1) (β: −0.562, 95% CI: −11.414, −0.282, p = 0.021), with the various component. A marginally significant negative association between galectin 3 (Gal-3) and moderation score (β: −0.451, 95% CI: −1.171, 0.060, p = 0.060) was found. In addition, a marginally significant inverse association was also established between hs–CRP and variety score (β: −0.311, 95% CI: −0.970, 0.001, p = 0.052). The Receiver Operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that DQI–I might better predict HOMA–IR with a cut point of 3.13 (AUC = 0.698, 0.511–0.699, p = 0.050). CONCLUSION: These findings showed that a higher adherence to diet quality and its components could probably be related to lowering the inflammatory markers considerably in overweight and obese women.