Few studies have examined the contribution of major dietary patterns to markers of systemic inflammation. This study was conducted to evaluate the association of major dietary patterns with markers of systemic inflammation among Iranian women. In a cross-sectional study of 486 healthy women aged 40–60 y, we assessed usual dietary intakes by means of an FFQ. Dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis. Anthropometric measurements were made and blood samples from fasting were taken for measuring inflammatory markers. The healthy pattern (high in fruits, vegetables, tomato, poultry, legumes, tea, fruit juices, and whole grains) was inversely related to plasma concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) (β = −0.09, P < 0.001), E-selectin (β = −0.07, P < 0.05), and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) (β = −0.08, P < 0.001) after control for potential confounders; with further adjustment for BMI and waist circumference (WC), the associations remained significant for CRP (β = −0.05, P < 0.05) and sVCAM-1 (β = −0.04, P < 0.05). In contrast, the western pattern score (high in refined grains, red meat, butter, processed meat, high-fat dairy, sweets and desserts, pizza, potato, eggs, hydrogenated fats, and soft drinks) was positively related to CRP (β = 0.08, P < 0.001), serum amyloid A (SAA) (β = 0.11, P < 0.05), IL-6 (β = 0.09, P < 0.001), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (β = 0.05, P < 0.05), and sVCAM-1 concentrations (β = 0.07, P < 0.05). However, after additional control for BMI and WC, the associations remained significant only for SAA (β = 0.06, P < 0.05) and IL-6 (β = 0.07, P < 0.001). The traditional dietary pattern (high in refined grains, potato, tea, whole grains, hydrogenated fats, legumes, and casserole) was positively associated with the plasma IL-6 concentration (β = 0.04, P < 0.05) when we controlled for confounders including BMI and WC. The findings suggest an independent association between major dietary patterns and plasma concentrations of markers of inflammation.
