AUTHOR=Zou Yadan , Liu Yongyu , Li Shengguang 

TITLE=Association between dietary vitamin C intake and gout among American adults

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1431323

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2024.1431323

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Gout is a common type of inflammatory arthritis. Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that neutralizes reactive oxygen species. However, the association between dietary vitamin C levels and gout remains unclear. This study evaluated the relationship between dietary vitamin C intake and gout.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Cross-sectional data from individuals aged &gt; 20 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2013 and 2018 were collected. Details on gout, dietary vitamin C intake, and several other essential variables were recorded.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>There were 12589 participants, 5% (652/12589) of whom experienced gout. Compared with individuals with lower vitamin C consumption in the Q1 group (≤19.9 mg/day), the adjusted odds ratio(OR)values for dietary vitamin C intake and gout in the Q2 group (19.9–49.7 mg/day), Q3 group (49.7–110.375 mg/day), and Q4 group (≥110.375 mg/day) were 0.87 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.69–1.1, <italic>P</italic> = 0.237), 0.81 (95% CI: 0.64–1.02, <italic>P</italic> = 0.076), and 0.77 (95% CI: 0.6–0.99, <italic>P</italic>= 0.042), respectively. Accordingly, the association between dietary vitamin C intake and gout exhibited an L-shaped curve (nonlinear, <italic>P</italic> = 0.245) in a restricted cubic spline. Subgroup analysis revealed significant interactions between vitamin C levels and gout according to sex (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). When we used data on dietary vitamin C from the second survey, we observed a similar inverse association between vitamin C intake and gout. The vitamin C was also negatively associated with hyperuricemia (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.9–0.98, <italic>P</italic>=0.005). Compared with Q1, the adjusted OR values for dietary vitamin C and hyperuricemia in Q2, Q3, and Q4 were 0.77 (95% CI: 0.69–0.86, <italic>P</italic> = 0.65), 0.81 (95% CI: 0.72–0.91, <italic>P</italic> = 0.014), and 0.72 (95% CI: 0.64–0.81, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001), respectively. No association was observed between vitamin C supplementation and gout.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The population-based data indicate that dietary vitamin C intake is inversely associated with gout. These findings support the potential role of vitamin C in preventing gout.</p></sec>