Association of Dietary Acid Load with Body Composition and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Background and Objectives: Increased dietary acid load lead to increase in risk of diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between dietary acid load with body composition and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the study population composed of 185 type 2 diabetic patients (with mean age of 51.62 years). The food frequency questionnaire (containing 147 food items), was completed to assess dietary intake. Then, acid load indices of potential renal acid load (PRAL) and Net Endogenous Acid Production (NEAP), was calculated for each person. Inflammatory factors (C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and TNF-α), and anthropometric factors (weight, height, waist circumference, and body fat percentage), were measured. Data were analyzed by linear regression, Pearson, and covariance tests. Results: Among the variables, the total body fat percentage (β=0.190, p=0.042) and inflammatory factor TNF-α (β=0.167, p=0.031) had a positive and significant correlation with PRAL acid load index. Among tertiles of dietary acid load, only total body fat and TNF-a, were significantly different among the PRAL tertiles, so that the total body fat percentage and TNF-a inflammatory factor, were higher in 2nd and 3rd tertile, respectively, and this relationship remained significant after adjusting for the confounders (p=0.038, p=0.032, respectively). Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that the PRAL index has a positive correlation with increased body fat and TNF-α.