Association of Emulsifier and Highly Processed Food Intake with Circulating Markers of Intestinal Permeability and Inflammation in the Cancer Prevention Study-3 Diet Assessment Sub-Study

Abstract

Compelling animal studies report increased intestinal permeability, inflammation, and colorectal carcinogenesis with exposure to certain emulsifiers commonly added to processed foods, but human data are lacking. Highly processed food consumption is also associated with obesity and higher risk of chronic diseases. We cross-sectionally examined the association of emulsifier and highly processed food consumption estimated from six 24-h dietary recalls among 588 U.S. men and women over one year, with biomarkers of intestinal permeability and inflammation measured from two fasting blood samples collected six months apart. In multivariable-adjusted generalized linear models, greater emulsifier intake (g/d) was not associated with antibodies to flagellin (P-trend = 0.88), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (P-trend = 0.56), or the combined total thereof (P-trend = 0.65) but was positively associated with an inflammatory biomarker, glycoprotein acetyls (GlycA) (P-trend = 0.02). Highly processed food intake (% kcal/d) was associated with higher anti-LPS antibodies (P-trend = 0.001) and total anti-flagellin and anti-LPS antibodies (P-trend = 0.005) but not with other biomarkers, whereas processed food intake expressed as % g/d was associated with higher GlycA (P-trend = 0.02). Our findings suggest that, broadly, highly processed food consumption may be associated with intestinal permeability biomarkers, and both emulsifier and highly processed food intakes may be associated with inflammation. Additional studies are warranted to further evaluate these relationships.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01635581.2021.1957947

Acknowledgments

The authors express sincere appreciation to all Cancer Prevention Study-3 Cohort participants and to each member of the study and biospecimen management group.

Disclosure of Interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Authors’ Contributions

CYU and MLM designed research; CYU, RAH, HQT, and ATG conducted research; CYU analyzed data; CYU, RAH, HQT, and PTC wrote the paper, and MLM had primary responsibility for final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclaimer

The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the American Cancer Society or the American Cancer Society – Cancer Action Network.

Sources of Support

The American Cancer Society funds the creation, maintenance, and updating of the Cancer Prevention Study-3 Cohort.