Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Neuromed, Via dell'Elettronica, Pozzilli, Italy.
Mediterranea Cardiocentro, Napoli, Italy.
J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019 Dec 24;74(25):3139-3149. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2019.09.068.
Chili pepper is a usual part of a traditional Mediterranean diet. Yet epidemiological data on the association between chili pepper intake and mortality risk are scarce, with a lack of studies from Mediterranean populations.
This study sought to examine the association between chili pepper consumption and risk of death in a large sample of the adult Italian general population, and to account for biological mediators of the association.
Longitudinal analysis was performed on 22,811 men and women enrolled in the Moli-sani Study cohort (2005 to 2010). Chili pepper intake was estimated by the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer) Food Frequency Questionnaire and categorized as none/rare consumption, up to 2 times/week, >2 to ≤4 times/week, and >4 times/week.
Over a median follow-up of 8.2 years, a total of 1,236 deaths were ascertained. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality among participants in the regular (>4 times/week) relative to none/rare intake were 0.77 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.66 to 0.90) and 0.66 (95% CI: 0.50 to 0.86), respectively. Regular intake was also inversely associated with ischemic heart disease (HR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.87) and cerebrovascular (HR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.20 to 0.75) death risks. The association of chili pepper consumption with total mortality appeared to be stronger in hypertension-free individuals (p for interaction = 0.021). Among known biomarkers of CVD, only serum vitamin D marginally accounted for such associations.
In a large adult Mediterranean population, regular consumption of chili pepper is associated with a lower risk of total and CVD death independent of CVD risk factors or adherence to a Mediterranean diet. Known biomarkers of CVD risk only marginally mediate the association of chili pepper intake with mortality.
辣椒是传统地中海饮食的常见组成部分。然而，关于辣椒摄入量与死亡率之间关联的流行病学数据很少，并且缺乏来自地中海人群的研究。
本研究旨在检查大量意大利成年人群中辣椒消耗与死亡风险之间的关联，并解释关联的生物学机制。
对 Moli-sani 研究队列（2005 年至 2010 年）中的 22811 名男性和女性进行了纵向分析。通过 EPIC（欧洲前瞻性癌症调查）食物频率问卷来估计辣椒摄入量，并将其分类为无/很少食用、每周 2 次、每周 2-4 次和每周 4 次以上。
在中位数为 8.2 年的随访期间，共确定了 1236 例死亡。与无/很少食用者相比，习惯性（每周>4 次）摄入者的全因和心血管疾病死亡率的多变量危险比（HR）分别为 0.77（95%置信区间[CI]：0.66 至 0.90）和 0.66（95% CI：0.50 至 0.86）。习惯性摄入还与缺血性心脏病（HR：0.56；95% CI：0.35 至 0.87）和脑血管疾病（HR：0.39；95% CI：0.20 至 0.75）死亡风险呈负相关。辣椒消耗与总死亡率之间的关联在无高血压个体中似乎更强（交互作用的 p 值=0.021）。在已知的心血管疾病生物标志物中，只有血清维生素 D 略微解释了这些关联。
在一个大型的地中海成年人群中，习惯性食用辣椒与总死亡率和心血管疾病死亡率降低相关，与心血管疾病危险因素或遵循地中海饮食无关。已知的心血管疾病风险生物标志物仅略微解释了辣椒摄入量与死亡率之间的关联。
