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Research: FORMAN and COLLEAGUES,
Listed in Issue 178
Abstract
FORMAN and COLLEAGUES, Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 3rd Floor, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. jforman@partners.org studied whether fructose and vitamin C intake influence the risk for developing hypertension.
Background
Higher uric acid levels are associated with an increased risk for developing hypertension. Higher intake of fructose increases plasma uric acid levels and higher intake of vitamin C reduces uric acid levels, but whether these nutrients are independently associated with the risk for developing hypertension is unknown.
Methodology
We studied this question by analyzing data from participants of three large and independent prospective cohorts: Nurses' Health Study 1 (n = 88,540), Nurses' Health Study 2 (n = 97,315), and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (n = 37,375). Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals for incident hypertension were computed according to quintiles of fructose intake and categories of vitamin C intake using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression.
Results
Fructose intake was not associated with the risk for developing hypertension; the multivariable relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for the highest compared with the lowest quintile of fructose intake were 1.02 (0.99 to 1.06) in Nurses' Health Study 1, 1.03 (0.98 to 1.08) in Nurses' Health Study 2, and 0.99 (0.93 to 1.05) in Heath Professionals Follow-up Study. Regarding vitamin C, the relative risks for individuals who consumed > or =1500 mg/d compared with those who consumed <250 mg/d were 0.89 (0.83 to 0.96) in Nurses' Health Study 1, 1.02 (0.91 to 1.14) in Nurses' Health Study 2, and 1.06 (0.97 to 1.15) in Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
Conclusion
Fructose and vitamin C intake do not substantially influence the risk for developing hypertension.
References
Forman JP, Choi H and Curhan GC. Fructose and vitamin C intake do not influence risk for developing hypertension. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 20(4): 863-71. Apr 2009. NLM. PMC2663841 [Available on 04/01/10].