Association between dietary antioxidant quality score and severity of coronavirus infection: a case-control study

• Published in: Frontiers in nutrition (Lausanne) 2023-07, Vol.10, p.1174113-1174113
• Main Authors: Aghajani, Mobina, Wong, Alexei, Azimi, Mehdi, Harijani, Shadmehr Mirdar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: antioxidant; COVID-19; DAQS; diet; ICU; Nutrition
• ISSN: 2296-861X; 2296-861X
• DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1174113

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the dietary antioxidant quality score (DAQS) and the severity of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The present case-control study was carried out on 295 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 (≥18 years old), including 104 critical patients (Intensive care unit [ICU] admission) and 191 COVID-19 patients without severe complications (Non-intensive care unit [Non-ICU] patients) as cases. Dietary intake was assessed by a 147-item, semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Logistic regression was performed to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the considered risk factors. Our outcomes (after multivariate adjustment) suggested that higher adherence to DAQS was significantly associated with a decreased risk of COVID-19 infection severity (OR = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.04-0.29, < 0.001). Similar results were seen when analyzed by sex [men (OR = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.002-0.15, < 0.001) and women (OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.06-0.68, = 0.012)]. A significant association between vitamin D3 intake and decreased risk of COVID-19 severity (OR = 0.91; 95% CI: 0.89-0.94, < 0.001) was also observed. Moreover, multivariate results revealed that there were no significant associations between vitamin C (OR = 1.00; 95% CI: 0.99-1.00, = 0.067), vitamin E (OR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.86-1.11, = 0.798), zinc (OR = 1.02; 95% CI: 0.86-1.20, = 0.805), and selenium (OR = 0.99; 95% CI: 0.99-1.00, = 0.077) intakes with the risk of COVID-19 severity. However, subgroup analyses by sex suggested a significant association between vitamin C intake and the risk of COVID-19 infection severity in women (OR = 1.00; 95% CI: 1.00-1.00, = 0.028). Our findings showed a negative association between DAQS adherence and the risk of COVID-19 infection severity. Our results may be used to develop potential dietary therapies to decrease COVID-19 severity.