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Prevention of Non Communicable Diseases

The association of dietary fibre intake and the IL13 rs20541 polymorphism with the risk of gastric cancer: a case-control study in Korea

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 76, pages 1031–1037 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background

The beneficial effect of fibre intake on reducing the risk of gastric cancer (GC) has been emphasized in recent years; however, the findings from the existing literature have been ambiguous. Fibre and anti-inflammatory cytokines are associated with GC through inflammation. We investigated whether a higher fibre intake reduces GC risk and whether the IL13 rs20541 single-nucleotide polymorphism interacts with fibre intake to modify GC risk.

Method

In this case-control study, 377 cases and 756 controls were included to assess the effects of fibre intake and the IL13 rs20541-fibre interaction on GC risk. We collected information on fibre consumption by using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The presence of IL13 rs20541 was determined through genetic analysis.

Results

A negative association between fibre intake and GC risk was observed (odds ratio (OR) = 0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.24–0.57, P for trend < 0.001). However, the significant association seemed to be limited to males (OR = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.16–0.50, p for trend < 0.001). Although a non-significant association between IL13 rs20541 and GC risk was found (OR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.71–1.26), we identified that individuals with a minor allele of IL13 rs20541 (AA/AG) and higher fibre intake had a lower GC risk than those with a minor allele and lower fibre intake (OR (95% CI) was 0.24 (0.12–0.45), P interaction = 0.024).

Conclusion

Our findings suggested a protective effect of fibre against GC carcinogenesis. However, fibre intake seemed to have a greater effect in individuals with a minor allele of IL13 rs20541 (AA/AG).

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Funding

This work was supported by International Cooperation & Education Program (NCCRI•NCCI 52210-52211, 2020) of National Cancer Center, Korea, and grants from National Cancer Center, Korea (1910330), and National Research Foundation of Korea (2021R1A2C2008439).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cancer Control and Population Health, Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea

    Tao Thi Tran

  2. Department of Cancer Biomedical Science, Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea

    Madhawa Gunathilake, Jeonghee Lee & Jeongseon Kim

  3. Center for Gastric Cancer, National Cancer Center Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea

    Il Ju Choi & Young-Il Kim

Authors
  1. Tao Thi Tran
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  2. Madhawa Gunathilake
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Contributions

Formal analysis, TTT, MG, JL; Preparation of original draft, TTT.; Writing-review and editing, MG, JK; Data curation, IJC, Y.-IK, JK; Investigation, IJC and Y-IK; Methodology, IJC, Y-IK and JK; Funding acquisition, JK; Project administration, JK; Supervision, JK. All authors have critically reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript submitted for publication.

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Correspondence to Jeongseon Kim.

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Thi Tran, T., Gunathilake, M., Lee, J. et al. The association of dietary fibre intake and the IL13 rs20541 polymorphism with the risk of gastric cancer: a case-control study in Korea. Eur J Clin Nutr 76, 1031–1037 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-021-01059-1

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