Dietary carbohydrate types, genetic predisposition, and risk of adult-onset asthma: A longitudinal cohort study

Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Mar;261(Pt 1):129824. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.129824. Epub 2024 Jan 28.

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the longitudinal associations among carbohydrate intake types, genetic predisposition, and risk adult onset asthma (AOA). A dataset of 96,487 participants from UK Biobank was included with 1830 cases of incident AOA during an average follow-up of 9.68 years. Participants with the highest intake of total sugar, free sugar, and fiber intake, as compared to those with the lowest intake of total sugar, free sugar, and fiber intake, showed a 17 % and 22 % increased risk of incident AOA, and a 16 % decreased risk of AOA, respectively. Substitution of 5 % energy from free sugars with 5 % energy from non-free sugars was associated with a significantly lower risk of AOA (Hazard Ratio [HR] = 0.93, 95 % Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.88, 0.99). Participants with high genetic risk and the highest intake of free sugar showed a 112 % (HR = 2.12, 95%CI: 1.68, 2.68) increased risk of incident AOA. Participants with low genetic risk and highest intake of fiber showed a 50 % (HR = 0.50, 95%CI: 0.39, 0.64) reduced risk of AOA. This study highlights the critical role of carbohydrate types in AOA prevention, with an emphasis on reduced free sugar, moderate non-free sugar, and increased fiber intake.

Keywords: Asthma; Cohort study; Dietary carbohydrate; Sugar; fiber.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Asthma* / etiology
  • Asthma* / genetics
  • Cohort Studies
  • Dietary Carbohydrates*
  • Dietary Fiber
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Sugars

Substances

  • Dietary Carbohydrates
  • Dietary Fiber
  • Sugars