Dietary Zinc Intake Affects the Association Between Dietary Vitamin A and Depression: A Cross-Sectional Study

Biao Hu; Zheng-Yang Lin; Run-Pu Zou; Yin-Wen Gan; Jia-Ming Ji; Jing-Xi Guo; Wan-Gen Li; Yong-Jing Guo; Hao-Qin Xu; Dong-Lin Sun; Min Yi

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.913132

Dietary Zinc Intake Affects the Association Between Dietary Vitamin A and Depression: A Cross-Sectional Study

Front Nutr. 2022 Jun 30:9:913132. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.913132. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Biao Hu^{1

2}, Zheng-Yang Lin^{1

2}, Run-Pu Zou^{1

3}, Yin-Wen Gan^{1

3}, Jia-Ming Ji^{1

4}, Jing-Xi Guo^{1

5}, Wan-Gen Li¹, Yong-Jing Guo^{1

4}, Hao-Qin Xu^{1

4}, Dong-Lin Sun⁵, Min Yi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² Department of Clinical Medicine, The Second Clinical School of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Medical Imaging, The Second Clinical School of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Clinical School of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁵ Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Dietary vitamin A concentrations correlate with depression. Zinc has been reported to be associated with lower depression. In addition, zinc is an important cofactor in the activation of vitamin A. However, there are few studies investigating relationships between of dietary zinc intake, dietary vitamin A intake and depression.

Materials and methods: The data for this study came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2005 to 2018 and involved 70,190 participants. We stratified participants by recommended dietary zinc intake (recommended dietary zinc intake for women: 8 mg/day, recommended dietary zinc intake for men: 11 mg/day). We further assessed the association between vitamin A and depression in participants with low and high zinc intake (interaction test) using univariate logistic regression of intake participants.

Result: In the female population we grouped the population into low and high zinc intake groups using the recommended dietary zinc intake of 8 (mg/day), with an increase in total vitamin A, the risk of depression was significantly lower in the low zinc intake group (OR: 0.85 95 CI: 0.76-0.96), while the risk of depression was increased in the high zinc intake group (OR: 1.05 95 CI: 0.95 to 1.17). Thus, in the female population, there was a significant interaction between insufficient vitamin an intake and depression (interaction likelihood ratio test of p = 0.011). In the male population we grouped the population by the recommended dietary zinc intake of 11(mg/day). Again, the population was divided into two groups with low and high zinc intake, however we did not find significant results for the interaction (p = 0.743 for the interaction likelihood ratio test).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that zinc intake may influence the relationship between dietary vitamin A and depression. Of course, our findings require further randomized controlled trials to enhance the credibility.

Keywords: cross-sectional study; depression; diet and nutrition; interaction; vitamin A.