Dietary patterns of polyphenols and risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration: the Alienor study

Abstract

Purpose : A high adherence to a Mediterranean diet, characterized by a high consumption of fruits, vegetables and olive oil, is associated with a lower risk of AMD. These foods are rich in polyphenols (PPs), which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and could help reduce the onset and progression of AMD. We report the associations between dietary intake of PPs and the incidence of advanced AMD in French older adults.

Methods : The Alienor study is an ongoing population-based cohort of 963 elderly residents of Bordeaux followed every 2-year since 2006. AMD was classified from color fundus photographs and SD-OCT (2006-17), and using self-reported AMD (2001-06). Dietary intakes of PPs were estimated from a 24-hour dietary recall (2001) using the Phenol-Explorer database. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to extract PPs patterns from the 21 PPs families. Associations between PPs patterns and families and incidence of advanced AMD were assessed by Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, sex, total energy intake, smoking status, marital status, physical activity and education.

Results : Among 862 participants eligible for these analyses, 100 (11.6%) developed advanced AMD.
Three patterns of PPs were identified: pattern 1 characterized by high consumption of stilbenes, hydroxybenzaldehydes, dihydroflavonols and lignans; pattern 2 by high consumption of hydroxycinnamic acids, alkylmethoxyphenols and other PPs; and pattern 3 by high consumption of alkylmethoxyphenols, catechins, hydroxycinnamic acids and theaflavins. After adjustment, none of the pattern was significantly associated with advanced AMD (hazard ratio (HR)=1.05, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) [0.94-1.17]; HR=1.10, 95%CI [0.97-1.26]; HR=1.06, 95%CI [0.91-1.23], respectively). A higher intake of hydroxycinnamic acids was positively associated with advanced AMD (Q2 HR=2.17 95%CI [1.13-4.16]; Q3 HR=2.14 95%CI [1.10-4.15]; Q4 HR=1.95 95%CI [0.99-3.83] vs. Q1) and a higher intake of catechins was negatively associated with advanced AMD (Q2 HR=0.49 95%CI [0.28-0.87]; Q3 HR=0.49 95%CI [0.28-0.87]; Q4 HR=0.63 95%CI [0.37-1.08] vs. Q1).

Conclusions : In this study, no association was found between patterns of PPs and incidence of advanced AMD. However, high consumption of hydroxycinnamic acids (coffee) was associated with an increased risk of AMD, and high consumption of catechins (tea) with a lower risk of AMD.

This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.