LB071 - ARE FLAVONOID INTAKE AND DIET QUALITY ASSOCIATED WITH DISEASE ACTIVITY AND INFLAMMATORY MARKERS IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS? A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY FROM TÜRKİYE

LB071

ARE FLAVONOID INTAKE AND DIET QUALITY ASSOCIATED WITH DISEASE ACTIVITY AND INFLAMMATORY MARKERS IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS? A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY FROM TÜRKİYE

I. Alpat Yavaş^1,2,*, N. Saleki^1,2

¹School of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, ²Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Türkiye

Rationale: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease marked by chronic inflammation and joint damage. Dietary flavonoids, with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, have been suggested to influence the disease course.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study of 63 adult RA patients, flavonoid intake was calculated from two-day food records using the USDA Expanded Flavonoid Database. Diet quality was assessed with HEI-2020 and DASH-Q, and disease activity with DAS28. Inflammation markers were CRP, ESR, and the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII; platelet×neutrophil/lymphocyte). Data were analysed using Spearman correlation, Kruskal-Wallis and one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking, and disease duration. Significance was set at p<0.05.

Results: Of the 63 patients (82.5% women), mean daily total flavonoid intake was 518.25±373.39 mg, of which 90.2% came from flavan-3-ols, predominantly black tea, and the rest from five other subclasses. Neither total nor subclass flavonoid intake was significantly associated with disease activity (DAS28) or inflammation markers (CRP, ESR, SII) (p>0.05). All participants had poor or needs-improvement diet quality. Poorer diet quality was associated with higher SII (p=0.034), the only significant diet–inflammation relationship. In adjusted models, flavonoid intake did not independently predict disease activity or inflammation, and sex was the only significant determinant of disease activity.

Conclusion: Flavonoid intake was not associated with RA disease activity, and diet quality was inadequate. Overall dietary pattern, rather than flavonoid intake alone, may be more relevant to inflammation in RA. As one of few studies directly evaluating this relationship, it adds preliminary evidence; larger prospective studies are recommended.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared