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Background Dietary patterns were associated with the risk of chronic disease development and outcome-related diseases. In this study, we aimed to compare the correlation between dietary patterns and metabolic syndrome (MetS) using two methods for identifying dietary patterns. Methods The participants (n = 25,569) aged ≥40 years with impaired kidney function were retrieved from Mei Jau (MJ) Health Screening database from 2008 to 2010. Dietary patterns were identified by principal component analysis (PCA) and reduced rank regression (RRR) from twenty-two food groups using PROC FACTOR and PROC PLS functions. Results We identified two similar dietary pattern characteristics (high intakes of deep fried foods, preserved or processed foods, dipping sauce, meat, sugary drinks, organ meats, jam/honey, fried rice/flour products, instant noodles and eggs) derived by PCA and RRR. Logistic regression analysis revealed that RRR-derived dietary pattern scores were positively associated with an odds ratio (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.56, 1.86) of having MetS than PCA-derived dietary pattern scores (OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.51). The correlations between RRR-derived dietary pattern scores and elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure (OR = 1.30 for both) or low high density lipoprotein cholesterol in women (OR = 1.32) were statistically significant but not significant in PCA-derived dietary pattern scores. Conclusions Our findings suggest that RRR gives better results when studying behavior related dietary patterns in association with MetS. RRR may be more preferable to provide dietary information for developing dietary guidelines among people with MetS. Further studies with prospective measurements are needed to verify whether RRR is a useful analytic tool for the association between dietary patterns and other chronic diseases.

Inadequate dietary intake, poor nutritional status, heavy smoking, and alcohol consumption are associated with the risk of anemia. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between dietary patterns, lifestyle, nutritional status, and anemia-related biomarkers among adults using a multivariable regression model. Taiwanese adults aged 20–45 years (n = 118,924, 43,055 men and 75,869 women) were obtained from the Mei Jau Health Management Institution database, between 2001 and 2015, for data analysis. The anemia–inflammation-related dietary pattern was derived by reduced rank regression analysis. Dietary patterns with high intakes of eggs, meat, organ meats, rice or flour products, fried foods, sugary beverages, and processed foods significantly increased the risk of anemia, and was associated with decreased hemoglobin, hematocrit, and red blood cells, but increased white blood cells and C-reactive protein levels. Moreover, current alcohol drinkers, as well as people who were underweight, overweight, obese, and central obese, were more likely to increase their risk of anemia by 46%, 20%, 23%, 34%, and 28%, respectively. Interestingly, participants who are current or past smokers were inversely associated with risk of anemia. In conclusion, adherence to the anemia–inflammation dietary pattern was associated with an increased risk of anemia in Taiwanese adults. Furthermore, abnormal weight status and alcohol drinking were correlated with an increased risk of anemia.

Background Anemia and electrolyte disturbances are adverse outcomes of chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study explored the association between metabolic parameters with anemia and electrolyte and mineral disorders among CKD patients in Taiwan. Methods This cross-sectional study with a total of 2176 CKD stages 3–5 patients were collected from the Department of Nephrology at Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University through the “Chronic Kidney Disease Common Care Network” database from December 2008 to April 2019. A multivariable-adjusted logistic regression expressed as odd ratios (OR) was performed to assess the association of metabolic parameters with anemia and electrolyte and mineral disorders. Results Elevated diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were associated with presence of anemia. Similarly, elevated fasting blood glucose and HbA1c were associated with hyponatremia (OR = 1.59 and 1.58, P for both < 0.01) and hypercalcemia (OR = 1.38 and 1.33, P for both < 0.05). There was no significant association in serum lipid levels with presence of anemia. However, total triglycerides, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were only associated with presence of hypercalcemia (OR = 1.43, 1.95 and 3.08, respectively, P for all < 0.05). Conclusions Elevated diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, HbA1c and blood lipids are associated with anemia or electrolyte and mineral disorders in CKD patients.

Diets could play an important role in testicular function, but studies on how adherence to the dietary patterns influences human testicular function in Asian countries are scarce. Herein, we examined the association between testosterone-related dietary patterns and testicular function among adult men in Taiwan. This cross-sectional study recruited 3283 men who attended a private medical screening program from 2009 to 2015. Testosterone-related dietary pattern was generated by the reduced rank regression (RRR) method. The association between adherence to quartile of dietary pattern scores with sex hormones (testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and estradiol (E2)) and sperm quality (sperm concentration (SC), total sperm motility (TSM), progressive motility (PRM), and normal sperm morphology (NSM)) were examined by multivariable linear regression. Hemoglobin (β = 0.57, p < 0.001), hematocrit (β = 0.17, p = 0.002), triglyceride (β = −0.84, p < 0.001), HDL-cholesterol (β = 3.58, p < 0.001), total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol ratio (β = −0.78, p < 0.001), and uric acid (β = −10.77, p < 0.001) were highly correlated with testosterone levels. Therefore, these biomarkers were used to construct a testosterone-related dietary pattern. Highest adherence (Q4) to dietary pattern scores were negatively associated with lower testosterone in the pooled analysis (β = −0.89, p = 0.037) and normal-weight men (β = −1.48, p = 0.019). Likewise, men in the Q4 of the dietary pattern had lower SC (β = −5.55, p = 0.001) and NSM (β = −2.22, p = 0.007) regardless of their nutritional status. Our study suggesting that testosterone-related dietary pattern (rich in preserved vegetables or processed meat or fish, deep-fried foods, innards organs, rice or flour products cooked in oil, and dipping sauce, but low in milk, dairy products, legumes, or beans, and dark or leafy vegetables) was associated with a poor testicular function.

While diet and lifestyle are independently implicated in the etiology of liver disease, the interaction of diet and lifestyle may be more helpful for determining the risk of liver abnormality. Thus, our study aimed to evaluate the interaction between the dietary pattern associated with liver biomarkers and lifestyle factors among Taiwanese adults with abnormal liver enzymes. A liver-associated dietary pattern, generated using reduced rank regression, was characterized by high intake of soy sauce or other dips, sugar sweetened beverages, and preserved and processed foods, but low intake of seafood, fruits, eggs, and dark-colored vegetables. In the fully adjusted model, liver-associated dietary patterns or unhealthy concordance lifestyle factors were associated with an increased risk of having liver function abnormality (OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.12 and OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.31, 1.53, respectively). Moreover, the interaction between liver-associated dietary pattern and unhealthy concordance lifestyle factors showed more significant correlation, with an elevated risk of abnormal liver function (OR = 2.14, 95% CI: 2.02, 2.26). Therefore, our study suggests that participants who have a strong liver-associated dietary pattern along with unhealthy concordance lifestyles are likely to have increased odds of abnormal liver function.

We evaluated the interactive effects of nutrition education (NE) and lifestyle factors on kidney function parameters and cardiovascular risk factors among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. This cross-sectional cohort study recruited 2176 CKD stages 3–5 patients aged > 20 years from Integrated Chronic Kidney Disease Care Network, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taiwan between December 2008 and April 2019. The multivariable regression analysis was performed to investigate the interactive effects of NE with lifestyle factors on kidney function parameters and cardiovascular risk factors. Relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) and attributable proportion (AP) were applied to assess additive interaction. Patients who were smoking or physically inactive but received NE had better estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (β: 3.83, 95% CI: 1.17–6.49 or β: 3.67, 95% CI: 2.04–5.29) compared to those without NE. Patients with smoking and NE significantly reduced risks for having high glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) by 47%, high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) by 38%, and high corrected calcium (C-Ca) by 50% compared to those without NE. Moreover, NE and smoking or inactive physical activity exhibited an excess risk of high C-Ca (RERI: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.09–0.85 for smoking or RERI: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.01–0.90 and AP: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.03–0.99 for physical activity). Our study suggests that CKD patients who were enrolled in the NE program had better kidney function. Thus, NE could be associated with slowing kidney function decline and improving cardiovascular risk factors.

Background and objectives: Insulin resistance (IR) is frequently associated with chronic low-grade inflammation and has an important role as a mediator in the development of liver disease. Thus, this study aimed to explore the relationship between two indexes of IR and abnormal liver function parameters. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study obtained data of 41,510 men and 92,357 women aged ≥30 years from a private health screening institute in Taiwan. Two IR indexes namely triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index and triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio were used to examine their relationship to predict abnormal liver function parameters (aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)). Results: Positive trend was shown for the association of TyG index in the highest quintile (Q5) and risk of high AST (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.33–1.57), high ALT (OR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.73–1.97), high GGT (OR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.93–2.15), and high ALP (OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.07–1.19) compared with the median quintile (Q3) in the fully adjusted model. Similarly, participants in the Q5 of the TG/HDL-C ratio were associated with 1.38 (95% CI: 1.27–1.49), 1.71 (95% CI: 1.61–1.82), 1.75 (95% CI: 1.66–1.84), and 1.21 (1.16–1.27) odds for having high AST, ALT, GGT, and ALP respectively. The AUC (95% CI) value of the TyG index for predicting high AST, high ALT, and high GGT was 0.699 (0.692–0.705), 0.738 (0.734–0.742), and 0.752 (0.749–0.755), respectively. Meanwhile, the AUC (95% CI) of the TG/HDL-C ratio for predicting high AST, high ALT, and high GGT was 0.680 (0.673–0.686), 0.738 (0.734–0.742), 0.734 (0.731–0.738), respectively. Conclusions: Our study supported that the TyG index and TG/HDL-C ratio may be useful as non-invasive methods to predict the existence of impaired liver function in the early stage.