Associations Between Dietary Patterns and Skin Microcirculation in Healthy Subjects

Abstract

Objective-Microvascular dysfunction is suggested to be a marker of common pathophysiological mechanisms in the development of insulin resistance, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Given the established relationship of diet with the macrovascular disease, the aim of this study was to investigate for the first time the possible associations between dietary patterns and microcirculation. Approach and Results-Two hundred ninety-one healthy men and women selected from the Supplementation en Vitamines et Mineraux Antioxydants 2' cohort were assessed for anthropometric, nutritional, biochemical, and microcirculation parameters using finger skin capillaroscopy. Dietary intake was assessed cross-sectionally using a food frequency questionnaire, and principal component analysis was used to identify dietary patterns from 40 food groups. Six dietary patterns were identified. A dietary pattern characterized by increased consumption of vegetable oils, poultry, and fish and seafood was positively associated with both functional and anatomic capillary density after adjusting for confounders (β=0.13, P=0.05 and β=0.20, P=0.00, respectively). A second dietary pattern with increased consumption of sweets was inversely associated with functional and anatomic capillary density in all multivariate models (β=−0.14, P=0.03 and β=−0.17, P=0.01). There were no associations between any of the derived dietary patterns and capillary recruitment. Conclusions-In healthy subjects, a dietary pattern characterized by an increased consumption of vegetable oils, poultry, and fish and seafood and low consumption of sweets was associated with better microvascular function.

Compliance with dietary guidelines affects capillary recruitment in healthy middle-aged men and women

“…These factors may explain the discrepancy with the findings of He and colleagues as regards the lack of effect observed on resting capillary density with an integrated dietary intervention that included salt restriction. The capillary densities in our participants were similar to the values reported by He et al in hypertensives following sodium restriction (106 capillaries per mm 2 FCD and 115 capillaries per mm 2 SCD) and are similar to values reported in other studies in predominantly normotensive individuals [8, 27–30]. Furthermore, it should be noted that the microvascular measures were a secondary outcome of the current study, and the possibility that the study was underpowered to detect changes in capillary density cannot be excluded.…”

“…Nevertheless, the findings reported here need to be confirmed in additional studies using techniques that are not restricted to populations with lightly melanized skin, for example orthogonal polarization spectroscopy (OPS). The numerical values of capillary densities in this cohort of healthy individuals with normal to low BP are in accordance with the published literature [8, 27–30], although meaningful comparisons with other studies are difficult due to differing techniques, BP status and smoking status. Furthermore, the data reinforce the limited information available on ranges of FCD, SCD and CR available in the literature, especially in healthy men and women older than 40 years.…”

Microvascular Dysfunction and Hyperglycemia: A Vicious Cycle With Widespread Consequences

“…In abdominally obese men, diet-induced weight loss (;10 kg in 8 weeks), as compared with a weight-maintenance diet, improved insulin-induced microvascular recruitment in skeletal muscle (6) and normalized the retinal arteriole-to-venule ratio (128). Controlled data on whether specific nutritional interventions can improve MVD are very limited (129). In contrast, exercise has clearly been shown to improve insulin-induced microvascular recruitment and capillary density in skeletal muscle (80,88).…”

Retinal microcirculation in association with caffeinated and alcoholic drinks in subjects at increased cardiovascular risk

“…On the contrary, there is a lack of evidence regarding the effect of caffeine and caffeinated as well as of alcohol and alcoholic drinks on early microvascular deviations from normalcy. Our knowledge regarding the possible effects of diet and more specifically of habitual consumption of caffeinated and alcoholic drinks on microvasculature is limited. Retinal microvasculature is a non‐invasive, easily accessible site for evaluation of microcirculation and it may offer additional information regarding cardiovascular risk since retinal microvascular function is closely associated with CVD risk factors such as hypertension and CVD disease .…”