AUTHOR=Zhang Yi , Ding Jun , Liang Jieyu 

TITLE=Associations of Dietary Vitamin A and Beta-Carotene Intake With Depression. A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.881139

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.881139

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objective</title><p>To clarify the associations of dietary vitamin A and beta-carotene intake with depression based on a meta-analysis of observational studies.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>An extensive literature search on February 2022 (PubMed, Web of Science and Embase) was employed to identify observational studies on the associations of dietary vitamin A and beta-carotene intake with depression. The pooled relative risk (RR) of depression for the highest vs. lowest dietary vitamin A and beta-carotene intake category, and the standard mean difference (SMD) of dietary vitamin A and beta-carotene intake for depression vs. control subjects, were calculated.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>A total of 25 observational studies (100,955 participants), which included 24 cross-sectional/case-control and 1 prospective cohort study, were included in this study. The overall multi-variable adjusted RR demonstrated that dietary vitamin A intake was inversely associated with depression (<italic>RR</italic> = 0.83, 95%CI: 0.70–1.00; <italic>P</italic> = 0.05). In addition, the combined SMD showed that the dietary vitamin A intake in depression was also lower than that in control subjects (SMD = −0.13, 95%CI: −0.18 to −0.07; <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001). On the other hand, the overall multi-variable adjusted RR indicated that dietary beta-carotene intake was negatively associated with depression (<italic>RR</italic> = 0.63, 95%CI: 0.55–0.72; <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001). The combined SMD showed that the dietary beta-carotene intake in depression was also lower than that in control subjects (SMD = −0.34, 95%CI: −0.48 to −0.20; <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Our results suggest that both dietary vitamin A and beta-carotene intake is inversely associated with depression. However, due to the limited evidence, further prospective cohort studies are still needed.</p></sec>