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Dietary intake of folate equivalents and risk of myocardial infarction in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)–Potsdam study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Dagmar Drogan
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Department of Epidemiology, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, D-14558 Nuthetal, Germany
Kerstin Klipstein-Grobusch*
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Department of Epidemiology, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, D-14558 Nuthetal, Germany
Jutta Dierkes
Affiliation:
Otto-von-Guericke University, Department of Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, Magdeburg, Germany
Cornelia Weikert
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Department of Epidemiology, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, D-14558 Nuthetal, Germany
Heiner Boeing
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Department of Epidemiology, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, D-14558 Nuthetal, Germany
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
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Abstract

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Objective

To assess the relationship between intake of dietary folate equivalents and risk of myocardial infarction in a German cohort.

Design

Intake of dietary folate equivalents was assessed by a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association between intake of dietary folate equivalents and risk of myocardial infarction.

Setting

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)–Potsdam cohort, Germany.

Subjects

Subjects were 22 245 apparently healthy non-users of vitamin supplements aged 35–64 years.

Results

During 4.6 years of follow-up, 129 incident cases of myocardial infarction were identified. Compared with intake below the median (103 μg), higher intake of dietary folate equivalents was associated with a multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.57 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.36–0.91). The inverse association of folate intake and myocardial infarction risk was stronger in participants with an ethanol intake equal to or above the sex-specific median (HR = 0.37, 95% CI 0.18–0.79) and attenuated in those with a low ethanol intake (HR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.37–1.22).

Conclusion

An increased intake of dietary folate equivalents was observed to be associated with decreased risk of myocardial infarction in a German study population, pointing towards the importance of folate intake with respect to primary prevention of myocardial infarction.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2006

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