Dietary Fiber Is Inversely Associated With Depressive Symptoms in Premenopausal Women.

Yan Li,Di Li,Yongqing Tong

doi:10.3389/fnins.2020.00373

Abstract

BackgroundAn inverse association between dietary fiber intake and depressive symptoms was reported in the general population, but this association is unstudied in midlife women. This study was designed to investigate the association of dietary fiber intake with depressive symptoms in midlife women.MethodsAnalyses for this cross-sectional study were performed on baseline assessment of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Linear regressions were used to examine the association of fiber intake with Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) score. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to examine the association between fiber intake and depressive symptoms (CES-D score ≥ 16).ResultsA total of 3054 midlife women in our study were stratified into premenopausal women and early perimenopausal women by menstrual bleeding patterns. In premenopausal women, dietary fiber intake was inversely associated with CES-D scores in unadjusted, age-, education-, race/ethnicity-, total family income-, BMI-, sport-, use of antidepressant-, dietary total caloric intake-, SHBG-, and FSH-adjusted linear regression model. The fully adjusted regression coefficient with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of fiber intakes was −0.146 (−0.235, −0.058) for CES-D score. Fiber intake was inversely associated with depressive symptoms (CES-D score ≥ 16) in crude and fully adjusted logistic regression model. The fully adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CI of depressive symptoms was 0.483 (0.314–0.745) in quartile 4 compared with quartile 1 for fiber intake. However, in early perimenopausal women, dietary fiber intake was not statistically significantly associated with depressive symptoms.ConclusionDietary fiber is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in premenopausal women, but not in early perimenopausal women.

Highlights

Major depressive disorder is a chronic disease, characterized by low rates of remission and relatively high rates of relapse (Casacalenda et al, 2002)
The regression coefficient with the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores −0.084 (−0.161, −0.007) in the crude model indicated that fiber intake was inversely associated with the CES-D scores
After adjustment for use of antidepressant, dietary total caloric intake, body mass index (BMI), sport, education, total family income, age, and race/ethnicity in model 1, high fiber intakes were significantly associated with lower CES-D scores, with a regression coefficient and 95% CI of −0.144 (−0.232, −0.056)

Summary

Introduction

Major depressive disorder is a chronic disease, characterized by low rates of remission and relatively high rates of relapse (Casacalenda et al, 2002). This chronic condition is expected to be a worldwide burden of disease, with approximately 300 million people affected (WHO, 2017; Li et al, 2018). The cortisol, regulated by hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis, can influence immune cells, affect gut barrier function and permeability, and alter profile of intestinal microbiota (Cryan and Dinan, 2012). Few epidemiologic researches investigated the relationship between depressive symptoms and dietary fiber intake. This study was designed to investigate the association of dietary fiber intake with depressive symptoms in midlife women

Methods

Results

Conclusion