Dietary myricetin intake is inversely associated with the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a Chinese population.

Myricetin is a natural plant-derived inhibitor for α-glucosidase and α-amylase and possesses strong antioxidant activity. Myricetin is reported to be effective in treating many symptoms that are associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), therefore, we hypothesized that myricetin plays a preventive role in the development of T2DM. To test this hypothesis, we designed a cross-sectional population study, which included 24 138 subjects, with 1357 of them diagnosed with T2DM. A validated 100-item food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary information. Daily intakes of myricetin and nutrients were calculated, based on the Chinese food composition tables. Multiple logistic regression analysis models were used to analyze the relationship between the quartiles of myricetin intake and the prevalence of T2DM. We found that, in this Chinese population, the daily intake of myricetin was 120.5 ± 95.7 mg, with apple, peach, orange, pineapple, and sweet potato being the main food sources. Significant inverse trends were observed between intakes of myricetin and prevalence of T2DM in multivariable models (all p-trend <0.0001). The odds ratios (95% CI) for T2DM across the ascending quartiles of myricetin intake were: 1.00 (reference), 0.73 (0.61, 0.87), 0.61 (0.50, 0.75), and 0.51 (0.40, 0.64). This study showed that myricetin intake was inversely related to the prevalence of T2DM in this Chinese population, suggesting a protective effect of myricetin in the development of T2DM.