Mediterranean diet protects against development of subclinical atherosclerotic disease

The researchers' team performed a cross-sectional study comprising 8116 subjects from the ILERVAS cohort. Atherosclerotic plaque presence was assessed by ultrasound examination.

Adherence to the MDiet was determined using the 14-item Mediterranean Diet Adherence Score (MEDAS). Subjects with at least one cardiovascular risk factor were included. Exclusion criteria were a clinical history of chronic kidney disease, diabetes, or a prior cardiovascular event.

The authors reported the following findings:

• Compared with subjects without SAD, participants with SAD were older and had a higher frequency of smoking habits, hypertension, HbA1c, dyslipidemia, and waist circumference.
• The adjusted multivariable analysis showed that a higher MEDAS was associated with a lower risk of AP (incidence rate ratios [IRR] 0.97).
• Moderate or high adherence to the MDiet was associated with a lower number of AP compared with a low MDiet adherence (IRR 0.90).
• In both models, female sex was associated with a lower risk of AP.

"In the present study, we found that better adherence to the Mediterranean was associated with lower number and frequency of subclinical atherosclerosis in a large cohort of adult Mediterranean individuals with low-to-moderate CVD risk," the researchers wrote.

"Further studies are required to establish a causal relationship between both variables," they concluded.

Reference:

Rojo-López, M. I., Bermúdez-López, M., Castro, E., Farràs, C., Torres, G., Pamplona, R., Lecube, A., Valdivielso, J. M., Fernández, E., Julve, J., Castelblanco, E., Franch-Nadal, J., Alonso, N., Granado-Casas, M., & Mauricio, D. (2023). Low adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with increased prevalence and number of atherosclerotic plaques in the ILERVAS cohort. Atherosclerosis, 380, 117191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.117191