Associations between dietary patterns and skin microcirculation in healthy subjects.

OBJECTIVE Microvascular dysfunction is suggested to be a marker of common pathophysiological mechanisms in the development of insulin resistance, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Given the established relationship of diet with the macrovascular disease, the aim of this study was to investigate for the first time the possible associations between dietary patterns and microcirculation. APPROACH AND RESULTS Two hundred ninety-one healthy men and women selected from the Supplementation en Vitamines et Mineraux Antioxydants 2' cohort were assessed for anthropometric, nutritional, biochemical, and microcirculation parameters using finger skin capillaroscopy. Dietary intake was assessed cross-sectionally using a food frequency questionnaire, and principal component analysis was used to identify dietary patterns from 40 food groups. Six dietary patterns were identified. A dietary pattern characterized by increased consumption of vegetable oils, poultry, and fish and seafood was positively associated with both functional and anatomic capillary density after adjusting for confounders (β=0.13, P=0.05 and β=0.20, P=0.00, respectively). A second dietary pattern with increased consumption of sweets was inversely associated with functional and anatomic capillary density in all multivariate models (β=-0.14, P=0.03 and β=-0.17, P=0.01). There were no associations between any of the derived dietary patterns and capillary recruitment. CONCLUSIONS In healthy subjects, a dietary pattern characterized by an increased consumption of vegetable oils, poultry, and fish and seafood and low consumption of sweets was associated with better microvascular function. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm the present association.