Dietary Flavonoids may partially alleviate smoking-related COPD risk

The risk of Smoking-related COPD can be partially mitigated by Dietary Flavonoids as found by a recent investigation. The study was published in the journal European Respiratory Journal.  

Certain pulmonary function parameters can be benefitted by increasing flavonoid intake. But it is unknown if flavonoids have an effect on COPD too. Hence researchers conducted a study to examine associations between intakes of total flavonoids, flavonoid subclasses, and also major flavonoid compounds with incident COPD in participants from the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health study. 

The prospective cohort study included 55 413 men and women without COPD, aged 50–65 years at recruitment. A food frequency questionnaire using Phenol-Explorer was used to estimate the habitual Flavonoid intake. Incident cases of COPD were identified using Danish nationwide registers. Associations were modeled using restricted cubic splines within Cox proportional hazards models. 

Results from the study: 

• During 23 years of follow-up, 5557 participants were diagnosed with COPD.
• Of these, 4013 were current smokers, 1062 were former smokers and 482 were never-smokers.
• After multivariable adjustments, participants with the highest total flavonoid intakes had a 20% lower risk of COPD than those with the lowest intakes; a 6–22% lower risk was observed for each flavonoid subclass.
• The inverse association between total flavonoid intake and COPD was present in both men and women but only in current smokers and former smokers, not never-smokers.
• Furthermore, higher flavonoid intakes appeared to lessen, but not negate, the higher risk of COPD associated with smoking intensity. 

Thus, the researchers concluded that Dietary flavonoids are important for partially mitigating the risk of smoking-related COPD. However, they suggested that smoking cessation should remain the highest priority. 

To read more, click here: 10.1183/13993003.02604-2021 

Bondonno NP, Parmenter BH, Dalgaard F, et al. Flavonoid intakes inversely associate with COPD in smokers. Eur Respir J. 2022;60(2):2102604. Published 2022 Aug 10.