Photo Credit: happy_lark

The following is a summary of “Dietary Inflammatory Score and Incident Heart Failure in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study,” published in the January 2025 issue of Cardiology by Park et al.

Inflammation plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of heart failure, and dietary patterns are known to influence systemic inflammation. The Dietary Inflammatory Score (DIS) is a tool used to quantify the inflammatory potential of diet. This study aimed to investigate whether DIS is associated with the incidence of heart failure events. Researchers analyzed data from 17,975 participants in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort, all of whom were free from HF at baseline. The primary exposure variable was the DIS quartile, which was derived from the Food Frequency Questionnaire completed at study enrollment. 

The primary outcome was the occurrence of incident HF, defined as hospitalization or death due to heart failure. The study group used Cox proportional hazard regression modeling to assess the association between DIS and incident HF events, adjusting for total energy intake, sociodemographic factors, and pro-inflammatory lifestyle behaviors. The cohort had a mean age of 64 ± 9.2 years, with 55.8% females and 32.3% Black participants. Over a median follow-up of 11.1 years, 900 incident HF events were recorded, including 752 hospitalizations and 148 deaths. In multivariable-adjusted models, the highest DIS quartile (Q4) was significantly associated with a higher risk of incident HF (HR) 1.26, 95% CI 1.03-1.54). 

This association persisted even after adjusting for comorbidities and physiological parameters. Age-stratified analyses revealed that this association was present in individuals under 65 years of age (Q4: HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.08-2.51). Furthermore, the association was found to be stronger in individuals with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) (Q4: HR 1.44, 95% CI 1.07-1.94), but not in those with HFpEF. These findings suggest that a diet with a higher inflammatory potential, as reflected by a higher DIS, is associated with an increased risk of developing heart failure, particularly HFrEF. Thus, adopting anti-inflammatory dietary patterns may be an important preventive strategy for heart failure.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S107191642500003X