Abstract
Background: According to scientific evidence, plant-based diets like vegetarian diets may be protective against chronic inflammatory disease. To date, the association of vegetarian nutrition with circulation CRP levels has been noticed and confirmed using meta-analyses. However, further studies are needed to clarify the possible associations between other inflammation markers and vegetarian diets since such data are lacking. Objective: in this study, we investigated the serum levels of a panel of cytokines in vegetarians compared to omnivores by performing flow cytometry quantification of 13 cytokines using a commercially available LEGENDplex bead-based immunoassay kit. Methods: This study included apparently healthy subjects: 80 omnivores and 80 subjects who had been on a vegetarian diet for at least 2 years (67 vegans and 13 lacto-ovo vegetarians). Omnivores and vegetarians were matched for gender, age, and body mass index (BMI). Results: Statistically significant lower circulating levels of IFN-γ (p < 0.01), TNF-α (p < 0.05), IL-6 (p < 0.05), IL-8 (p < 0.05), IL12p70 (p < 0.05), and IL-17A (p < 0.01) were found in vegetarians compared to omnivores. We also observed a trend for similar differences in IL-10 levels (p = 0.085). The levels of IL-1β, IFN-α2, MCP-1, IL-18, IL-23, and IL-33 did not statistically differ between the studied groups. Discussion: This study shows the link between plant-based diet and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In conclusion, the levels of some pro-inflammatory cytokines might be influenced by a plant-based diet, suggesting that this type of diet leads to the modulation of the cytokine network and inflammation responses.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization: I.Š., M.T., S.M. and M.D.; Methodology: I.Š., M.T. and S.M.; Software: S.M., I.Š. and M.T.; Validation: S.M., I.Š. and M.T.; Formal analysis: S.M., I.Š. and M.T.; Investigation: M.D., J.D.M., G.P.O. and P.J.; Resources: S.M., I.Š. and M.T.; Data curation: M.D., S.M., G.P.O. and P.J.; Writing—original draft preparation: I.Š., M.T. and M.D.; Writing—review and editing: S.M., I.Š., M.T. and M.D; Visualization: I.Š., M.T. and M.D.; Supervision: I.Š.; M.T. and S.M.; Project administration: I.Š. and M.T.; Funding acquisition: M.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This work was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia (contract number 451-03-47/2023-01/200015).
Institutional Review Board Statement
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the In-stitutional Ethics Committee of the Institute for Medical Research (protocol code number EO123/2017, date of approval: 8 December 2017).
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by authors on request.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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