Dietary B vitamin intake and risk of ulcerative colitis: a case–control study
Yoshihiro Miyake, Keiko Tanaka, Chisato Nagata, Shinya Furukawa, Akira Andoh, Tetsuji Yokoyama, Naoki Yoshimura, Kenichiro Mori, Tomoyuki Ninomiya, Yasunori Yamamoto, Eiji Takeshita, Yoshio Ikeda, Mitsuru Saito, Katsuhisa Ohashi, Hirotsugu Imaeda, Kazuki Kakimoto, Kazuhide Higuchi, Hiroaki Nunoi, Yuji Mizukami, Seiyuu Suzuki, Sakiko Hiraoka, Hiroyuki Okada, Keitarou Kawasaki, Masaaki Higashiyama, Ryota Hokari, Hiromasa Miura, Teruki Miyake, Teru Kumagi, Hiromasa Kato, Naohito Hato, Koji Sayama, Yoichi Hiasa,Objectives
A meta-analysis showed that serum folate concentrations, but not vitamin B 12 concentrations, are lower in patients with ulcerative colitis compared to healthy controls. However, no epidemiological study has investigated the association between dietary intake of folate, vitamin B 12 , vitamin B 6 , vitamin B 2 , and vitamin B 1 and the risk of ulcerative colitis. This study examines this association using data from a multicenter, hospital-based, case–control study.
Methods
The study included 384 cases of ulcerative colitis diagnosed within the past 3 years and 665 controls. Data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire. Dietary information was obtained using a 169-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Adjustment was made for sex, age, pack-years of smoking, alcohol consumption, history of appendicitis, family history of ulcerative colitis, education level, and BMI.
Results
Higher dietary intakes of folate and vitamin B
1
were independently associated with a decreased risk of ulcerative colitis after adjusting for confounding factors. The adjusted odds ratio for extreme quartiles was 0.60 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.39 − 0.91,
Conclusion
This is the first study to demonstrate significant inverse relationships between dietary intake of folate and vitamin B 1 and the risk of ulcerative colitis. Our results should be interpreted as exploratory and require validation through further, more focused studies.