Dietary inflammatory index after liver transplantation: Associated effects and long-term outcomes.

Background & Aims: We examined the dietary inflammatory potential in patients who underwent liver transplantation (LTx), associated factors and its relationship with clinical outcomes ten years after the initial evaluation.

Methods: Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®) scores were generated from data derived from the 24-h recall in 108 patients.

Results: Patients with higher DII scores (highest tertile), indicating a pro-inflammatory diet, had significantly higher serum LDL cholesterol (108.0 vs 78.2 mg/dL, p = <0.01) at the initial evaluation. However, DII scores did not significantly predict the occurrence of clinical outcomes after ten years of follow-up. Patient age was predictive of neoplasia (OR:1.05 95% CI:1.00-1.11; p = 0.03). Higher BMI at the initial evaluation was associated with steatosis (OR:1.51; 95% CI:1.29-1.77; p < 0.01), and smoking history was associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events (OR:7.71; 95% CI:1.53-38.79; p = 0.01).

Conclusions: A pro-inflammatory diet was associated with higher serum LDL cholesterol in the initial evaluation but may not be strongly related to clinical outcomes during long-term follow-up.