Association of the dietary anti-oxidant index with inflammatory marker such as interleukin-6 in women with and without polycystic ovarian syndrome: a comparative case‒control study

Khadijeh Azarbayjani; Shahideh Jahanian Sadatmahalleh; Azadeh Mottaghi; Malihe Nasiri

doi:10.1186/s40795-025-01205-z

Association of the dietary anti-oxidant index with inflammatory marker such as interleukin-6 in women with and without polycystic ovarian syndrome: a comparative case‒control study

BMC Nutr. 2025 Nov 25;11(1):219. doi: 10.1186/s40795-025-01205-z.

Authors

Khadijeh Azarbayjani¹, Shahideh Jahanian Sadatmahalleh², Azadeh Mottaghi³, Malihe Nasiri⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Reproductive Health and Midwifery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
² Department of Reproductive Health and Midwifery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. Shahideh.Jahanian@modares.ac.ir.
³ Research Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases, Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Although the main cause of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is still unknown, diet plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of PCOS, possibly through effects on the inflammatory response and oxidative stress pathways in the body.

Method: The present study was conducted as a case‒control study on 45 women with PCOS and 40 healthy women in the control group between May 2021 and February 2022 in Robat Karim, Iran. A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was completed for all participants, and the antioxidant indices of the diet were calculated via two different methods: ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) and oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) using the data obtained from the FFQ.

Results: The antioxidant indices of the diet determined via the FRAP index were significantly lower in the women with PCOS than in the control group (4.94 ± 1.97 vs. 3.48 ± 1.77, P˂ 0.05), but no significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of the antioxidant index of the diet based on the ORAC index (P˃ 0.05). Additionally, the antioxidant indices of the diet based on both the ORAC (R = 0.94, P˃ 0.05) and FRAP (R = 0.82, P˃ 0.05) indices were not significantly correlated with the inflammatory marker interleukin-6 (IL-6).

Conclusion: The present study supports the hypothesis of the importance of diet, especially food antioxidants, in the occurrence and exacerbation of PCOS, but the use of a suitable tool to determine the general antioxidant index of the diet in epidemiological studies related to diet and PCOS seems necessary.

Keywords: Antioxidant index; Diet; PCOS.