Objective: To explore the relationship between dietary inflammatory index(DII), serum interleukin-6(IL-6) of late pregnant women and infant birth weight.
Methods: This study was conducted in late pregnant women who received antenatal care at the Maternal and Children& apos; s Hospital of Baiyun and Yuexiu District in Guangzhou, China between September 2010 and February 2011. Tree consecutive 24-h diet recalls, pre-pregnancy body mass index, maternal education level and etc were collected. DII score was calculated based on data of dietary surveys. Participant were dived into anti-inflammatory group(T1), neutral group(T2) and pro-inflammatory group(T3) according to the tertiles of DII score. Maternal and infant anthropometric profile(n=456) and level of maternal serum IL-6(n=308) were measured. Structrural equation modeling(SEM) was used to explore the relationship between DII, IL-6 and birth weight.
Results: In 456 women, the mean DII score was 0. 02±1. 08. Women performed anti-inflammatory diet had higher intake of grain and potato, vegetables, energy, fiber, minerals, vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids, but lower intakes of fruits, diary, fat(% energy) and protein from animal food(P& lt; 0. 05). Average infant birth weight and level of maternal serum IL-6 were(3238. 1±376. 4)g and 4. 05(2. 02, 10. 14) pg/mL respectively. DII of pregnant women was positively correlated with maternal serum IL-6(r=0. 144, P& lt; 0. 05), and IL-6 was negatively correlated with birth weight(r=-0. 184, P& lt; 0. 05). SEM indicated that maternal serum IL-6 may be a mediator in the association between DII and birth weight.
Conclusion: The diet of pregnant women may change the serum level of IL6, and then affect infant birth weight.
Keywords: birth weight; interleukin-6; maternal dietary inflammatory index.