Dietary total antioxidant capacity is inversely associated with depression, anxiety and some oxidative stress biomarkers in postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study

Maryam Abshirini,Mahshid Soleymani,Mostafa Qorbani,Fereydoun Siassi,Hadis Mozaffari,Fariba Koohdani,Gity Sotoudeh,Mahdieh Entezarian,Zahra Aslani

doi:10.1186/s12991-019-0225-7

Abstract

BackgroundPostmenopausal women are at higher risk of mental disorders. Oxidative stress has implication in the development of these disorders. Dietary total antioxidant capacity (DTAC) has been proposed as a tool for assessing dietary antioxidants intake. The relationship between DTAC with depression, anxiety and stress has not been investigated in postmenopausal women. Thus, we aimed to assess the association between DTAC and depression, stress and anxiety as well as oxidative stress biomarkers.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was carried out on 175 postmenopausal women. Data on dietary intake and mental health were collected by 147-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-42), respectively. Dietary and serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), oxidized-LDL, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured. ANOVA test was applied to compare the mean of variables across the tertiles of DTAC. The relationship between DTAC and oxidative stress biomarkers was determined through ANCOVA method. Simple and multivariate linear regression tests were performed to measure the relationship between DTAC and mental health.ResultsSerum MDA level was significantly lower in the subjects at the highest tertiles of DTAC (P-value < 0.001). In addition, serum TAC level was significantly higher in subjects at the second tertile of DTAC (P-value = 0.04). DTAC was inversely and independently related to depression (β = − 0.16, P-value = 0.03) and anxiety scores (β = − 0.21, P-value = 0.007). There was no significant association between DTAC and stress score (β = − 0.10, P-value = 0.1).ConclusionAn inverse relationship was found between DTAC with depression, anxiety scores and some oxidative stress biomarkers in postmenopausal women. These findings indicate DTAC may be used for developing effective dietary measures for reducing depression and anxiety in these women.

Highlights

Mental disorders have been associated with a wide range of chronic diseases, disability, and even mortality, among elderly
Women included in the higher tertiles of Dietary total antioxidant capacity (DTAC) had higher median Waist circumference (WC) than women included in the lower tertile of DTAC (106 vs. 103 cm), the association was not statistically significant
DTAC was not associated with intake of energy, carbohydrate, and protein, but it was inversely associated with fat intake, (P-trend = 0.01), percent of energy from fat (P-trend = 0.003) and positively associated with percent of energy from carbohydrate (P-trend < 0.001)

Summary

Introduction

Mental disorders have been associated with a wide range of chronic diseases, disability, and even mortality, among elderly. Postmenopausal women are often at high risk of depression due to the lower level of estrogen [2], as data from longitudinal studies and meta-analyses have noted the chance of developing the depressive symptoms substantially increases during the menopausal transition and early postmenopausal years [3, 4]. The decline of estrogen during menopause may underlie depressive mood in menopausal women [5]. Because of estrogen decline, menopausal women face various distressing symptoms such as hot flashes and sleep disturbance which may increase their vulnerability for mood disorders [6]. The relationship between DTAC with depression, anxiety and stress has not been investigated in postmenopausal women. We aimed to assess the association between DTAC and depression, stress and anxiety as well as oxidative stress biomarkers

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Conclusion