Abstract
This study aimed to explore the effect of dietary magnesium intake on breast cancer risk both directly and indirectly via its effect on inflammatory markers C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). This case-control study recruited 1050 case patients and 1229 control subjects. Inflammatory marker levels of 322 cases and 322 controls, randomly selected, were measured using ELISA, and data on dietary magnesium intake were collected using a food frequency questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI), and path analysis was used to investigate the mediating effect. A higher magnesium intake was associated with a lower breast cancer risk (adjusted OR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.65, 0.99). A positive association was found between the CRP level and breast cancer risk (adjusted OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.02–2.01). However, IL-6 was not found to be associated with breast cancer risk. Path analysis revealed that dietary magnesium affected breast cancer risk both directly and indirectly by influencing the CRP level. The results indicate that a direct negative association and an indirect association through influencing the CRP level were observed between dietary magnesium intake and breast cancer risk.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, accounting for 25% of all female cancer cases[1]
This study showed that dietary magnesium intake was inversely associated with breast cancer risk and that higher C-reactive protein (CRP) level was a risk factor for breast cancer development
Path analysis revealed that the serum CRP level, but not the serum IL-6 level, mediated the association between dietary magnesium intake and breast cancer risk
Summary
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, accounting for 25% of all female cancer cases[1]. It is essential to investigate the effect of magnesium deficiency on breast cancer risk. Studies have suggested that the development of approximately 20% of all cancers is linked to chronic low-grade inflammation, the varying effects of inflammation on the onset of different types of cancer are still not completely clear[20,21]. Based on the above-mentioned findings, we speculated that magnesium deficiency affects breast cancer risk by regulating the systematic inflammatory status. This study aimed to investigate the direct association of dietary magnesium intake and inflammatory marker levels with breast cancer risk among Chinese women and to explore the indirect association of dietary magnesium with breast cancer risk through the modulation of chronic low-grade inflammation (i.e. changes in serum CRP and IL-6 levels)
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