Inverse association of antioxidant and phytoestrogen nutrient intake with adult glioma in the San Francisco Bay Area: a case-control study

Using unconditional logistic regression models, we compared quartiles of consumption for several specific antioxidants and phytoestrogens among 802 adult glioma cases and 846 controls from two study series from the San Francisco Bay Area Adult Glioma Study, 1991 – 2000, controlling for vitamin supplement usage, age, socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity and total daily calories. For cases, dietary information was either self-reported or reported by a proxy. For controls, dietary information was self-reported. Gender- and series- specific quartiles of average daily nutrient intake, estimated from food-frequency questionnaires, were computed from controls.Significant p-values (trend test) were evaluated using significance levels of either 0.05 or 0.003 (the Bonferroni corrected significance level equivalent to 0.05 adjusting for 16 comparisons). For all cases compared to controls, statistically significant inverse associations were observed for antioxidant index (p < 0.003), carotenoids (alpha- and beta-carotene combined, p < 0.05), daidzein (p = 0.003), matairesinol (p < 0.05), secoisolariciresinol (p < 0.003), and coumestrol (p < 0.003). For self-reported cases compared to controls, statistically significant inverse associations were observed for antioxidant index (p < 0.05) and daidzein (p < 0.05).Our results support inverse associations of glioma with higher dietary antioxidant index and with higher intake of certain phytoestrogens, especially daidzein.Epidemiologic evidence from studies of dietary antioxidant intake and adult glioma support a role for oxidative stress in gliomagenesis. Several studies have shown that antioxidant consumption from fruits and vegetables may be protective against adult glioma [1-4]. Most recently, a large case-control study in Nebraska showed that increased intake of carotenoids reduces the risk of glioma by 50 percent and suggests that antioxidant as well as phytochemical nutrient intake is likely to play a protective role in adul