Institute of Health & Wellbeing, Public Health, 1-Lilybank Gardens, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8RZ, UK.
Department of Physiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, 74000, Pakistan.
J Inflamm (Lond). 2012 Jun 7;9(1):22. doi: 10.1186/1476-9255-9-22.
Areca nut, the seed of fruit of an oriental palm, known as Areca catechu, is commonly chewed in many countries. Diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, oropharyngeal and oesophageal cancers have been associated with areca nut chewing and the mechanism by which areca nut chewing increases the risk of systemic diseases remains elusive. We hypothesize that systemic inflammation may be elevated among areca nut users, which is linked with many systemic diseases. Therefore, this present study was conducted to examine the systemic inflammation among areca nut chewers and healthy controls.
This was an observational cross sectional study carried out on areca nut chewers and healthy individuals in Karachi, Pakistan. Participants were selected from a region of the city by invitation request sent from door to door. Information was collected regarding the socio-demographic profile and the pattern of use, and a blood sample was obtained to measure the level of C-reactive protein (CRP). We carried out multiple logistic regressions to investigate the association between socio-demographic profile, areca nut chewing and CRP levels.
We carried out final analysis on 1112 individuals of which 556 were areca nut chewers and 556 were the age, gender and area matched controls. Areca nut chewers had a significantly higher proportion of men (15.1%, n = 84) who had an elevated CRP (>10 mg/dl) as compared to controls (5.2%, n = 29). Multivariate analyses showed that areca nut chewers had significantly higher odds of an elevated CRP (OR = 3.23, 95% CI 2.08-5.02, p value <0.001) as compared to controls. Increase in amount of areca nut consumption had a significant dose-response relationship with systemic inflammation (p for trend <0.001). Further analysis revealed that areca nut chewers with tobacco additives were two times more likely to have an elevated CRP as compared to raw areca nut users. These associations remained unchanged after adjustments for age, BMI and years of full time education.
Areca nut chewing has a significant association with systemic inflammation. Further work is required to confirm that systemic inflammation is the main pathway by which areca nut use increases the risk of systemic diseases.
槟榔，是一种东方棕榈的果实种子，又称槟榔果，在许多国家都有被咀嚼的习惯。咀嚼槟榔与糖尿病、高血压、心血管疾病、口咽和食管癌症有关，但其导致系统性疾病风险增加的机制尚不清楚。我们假设槟榔使用者可能存在系统性炎症升高，而这与许多系统性疾病有关。因此，本研究旨在检查槟榔咀嚼者和健康对照者的系统性炎症。
这是在巴基斯坦卡拉奇进行的一项槟榔咀嚼者和健康个体的观察性横断面研究。参与者是通过挨家挨户邀请请求从城市的一个区域中选出的。收集了社会人口统计学特征和使用模式的信息，并采集了血液样本以测量 C 反应蛋白（CRP）水平。我们进行了多项逻辑回归分析，以调查社会人口统计学特征、咀嚼槟榔与 CRP 水平之间的关系。
我们对 1112 人进行了最终分析，其中 556 人是槟榔咀嚼者，556 人是年龄、性别和地区匹配的对照者。槟榔咀嚼者中，男性（15.1%，n=84）的 CRP（>10mg/dl）升高比例明显高于对照组（5.2%，n=29）。多变量分析显示，与对照组相比，槟榔咀嚼者 CRP 升高的可能性显著更高（OR=3.23，95%CI 2.08-5.02，p 值<0.001）。槟榔食用量的增加与系统性炎症呈显著剂量反应关系（趋势检验 p 值<0.001）。进一步分析显示，与单纯食用槟榔者相比，添加烟草的槟榔咀嚼者 CRP 升高的可能性是其两倍。这些关联在调整年龄、BMI 和全时受教育年限后仍然不变。
咀嚼槟榔与系统性炎症有显著关联。需要进一步的工作来证实系统性炎症是槟榔使用增加系统性疾病风险的主要途径。
