Intake of Blueberries, Anthocyanins, and Risk of Eye Disease in Women.
J Nutr. 2024 Apr; 154(4):1404-1413.JN

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Blueberries and anthocyanins, their key bioactive component, may improve eye health. However, few long-term studies have examined blueberries and anthocyanins with cataract and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the prospective association between blueberry and anthocyanin intake with incident cataract, total AMD, and visually significant AMD among middle-aged and older women.

METHODS

A total of 36,653 and 35,402 women initially free of AMD and cataract, respectively, aged ≥45 y from the Women's Health Study provided semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire data on blueberry intake categorized as none, 1-3 servings/mo, 1 serving/wk, or ≥2 servings/wk, plus a combined category of ≥1 serving/wk. Total anthocyanin intake and major subclasses were energy-adjusted and categorized into quintiles. Self-reported risk factors of eye disease were adjusted in multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of confirmed cataract, AMD, and visually significant AMD with mean follow-up of 11 y.

RESULTS

Among the participants, 10.5% consumed ≥1 serving/wk of blueberries, with mean total anthocyanin intake of 11.2 mg/d. Compared to no blueberry intake, women consuming 1-3 servings/mo, 1 serving/wk, and ≥2 servings/wk had corresponding multivariable HRs of total AMD of 0.90 (95% CI: 0.73, 1.11), 0.71 (95% CI: 0.50, 1.00), and 0.36 (95% CI: 0.14, 0.93) (Ptrend = 0.011); those consuming ≥1 servings/wk had an HR of 0.68 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.98). A similar magnitude of HRs were found for visually significant AMD (Ptrend = 0.012) but not for cataract. There were no significant associations between increasing total anthocyanin quintiles and total and visually significant AMD, but there was a modest inverse association with cataract (Ptrend = 0.022), driven by a 10% reduction in cataract in the upper 2 quintiles.

CONCLUSIONS

Greater blueberry intake significantly reduced total AMD, but not visually significant AMD or cataract. However, the magnitude of effect for visually significant AMD was similar to total AMD. There was a modest but significant inverse association between dietary anthocyanin intake with cataract but not AMD.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Sesso HD

Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States. Electronic address: hsesso@bwh.harvard.edu.

Rautiainen S

Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Clinical Epidemiology Division, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Park SJ

Kim E

Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.

Lee IM

Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.

Glynn RJ

Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.

Buring JE

Christen WG

Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.

MeSH

Middle AgedHumansFemaleAgedAnthocyaninsBlueberry PlantsFollow-Up StudiesRisk FactorsCataract

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Language

eng

PubMed ID

38432561

Citation

Sesso, Howard D., et al. "Intake of Blueberries, Anthocyanins, and Risk of Eye Disease in Women." The Journal of Nutrition, vol. 154, no. 4, 2024, pp. 1404-1413.

Sesso HD, Rautiainen S, Park SJ, et al. Intake of Blueberries, Anthocyanins, and Risk of Eye Disease in Women. J Nutr. 2024;154(4):1404-1413.

Sesso, H. D., Rautiainen, S., Park, S. J., Kim, E., Lee, I. M., Glynn, R. J., Buring, J. E., & Christen, W. G. (2024). Intake of Blueberries, Anthocyanins, and Risk of Eye Disease in Women. The Journal of Nutrition, 154(4), 1404-1413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.02.028

Sesso HD, et al. Intake of Blueberries, Anthocyanins, and Risk of Eye Disease in Women. J Nutr. 2024;154(4):1404-1413. PubMed PMID: 38432561.

* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case

TY - JOUR T1 - Intake of Blueberries, Anthocyanins, and Risk of Eye Disease in Women. AU - Sesso,Howard D, AU - Rautiainen,Susanne, AU - Park,Sarah Jaehwa, AU - Kim,Eunjung, AU - Lee,I-Min, AU - Glynn,Robert J, AU - Buring,Julie E, AU - Christen,William G, Y1 - 2024/03/01/ PY - 2023/12/15/received PY - 2024/02/12/revised PY - 2024/02/27/accepted PY - 2024/4/15/medline PY - 2024/3/4/pubmed PY - 2024/3/3/entrez KW - age-related macular degeneration KW - cataract KW - diet KW - eye disease KW - prospective studies KW - women SP - 1404 EP - 1413 JF - The Journal of nutrition JO - J Nutr VL - 154 IS - 4 N2 - BACKGROUND: Blueberries and anthocyanins, their key bioactive component, may improve eye health. However, few long-term studies have examined blueberries and anthocyanins with cataract and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prospective association between blueberry and anthocyanin intake with incident cataract, total AMD, and visually significant AMD among middle-aged and older women. METHODS: A total of 36,653 and 35,402 women initially free of AMD and cataract, respectively, aged ≥45 y from the Women's Health Study provided semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire data on blueberry intake categorized as none, 1-3 servings/mo, 1 serving/wk, or ≥2 servings/wk, plus a combined category of ≥1 serving/wk. Total anthocyanin intake and major subclasses were energy-adjusted and categorized into quintiles. Self-reported risk factors of eye disease were adjusted in multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of confirmed cataract, AMD, and visually significant AMD with mean follow-up of 11 y. RESULTS: Among the participants, 10.5% consumed ≥1 serving/wk of blueberries, with mean total anthocyanin intake of 11.2 mg/d. Compared to no blueberry intake, women consuming 1-3 servings/mo, 1 serving/wk, and ≥2 servings/wk had corresponding multivariable HRs of total AMD of 0.90 (95% CI: 0.73, 1.11), 0.71 (95% CI: 0.50, 1.00), and 0.36 (95% CI: 0.14, 0.93) (Ptrend = 0.011); those consuming ≥1 servings/wk had an HR of 0.68 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.98). A similar magnitude of HRs were found for visually significant AMD (Ptrend = 0.012) but not for cataract. There were no significant associations between increasing total anthocyanin quintiles and total and visually significant AMD, but there was a modest inverse association with cataract (Ptrend = 0.022), driven by a 10% reduction in cataract in the upper 2 quintiles. CONCLUSIONS: Greater blueberry intake significantly reduced total AMD, but not visually significant AMD or cataract. However, the magnitude of effect for visually significant AMD was similar to total AMD. There was a modest but significant inverse association between dietary anthocyanin intake with cataract but not AMD. SN - 1541-6100 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/38432561/full_citation DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -

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Intake of Blueberries, Anthocyanins, and Risk of Eye Disease in Women.J Nutr. 2024 Apr; 154(4):1404-1413.JN