Dietary patterns and relative expression levels of PPAR-γ, VEGF-A, and HIF-1α genes in benign breast diseases: a case-control and consecutive case-series designs.

: We aimed to study the associations of dietary patterns with the relative expression levels of PPAR-γ, VEGF-A, and HIF-1α in women with benign breast disease (BBD). The study design was combinative, included a case-series and case-control compartments. Initially, eligible BBD patients (n=77, aged 19-52 years old) were recruited at Nour-Nejat hospital, Tabriz, Iran (2012-2014). A hospital-based group of healthy controls matched for age (n=231, aged 20-63 years old) and gender. Dietary data were collected using a valid 136-item food frequency questionnaire. Principal component analysis generated two main components (KMO=0.684), including the Healthy pattern (whole bread, fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, legumes, spices, seafood, low-fat meat, skinless poultry, low-fat dairies, nuts, and seeds) and Western pattern (starchy foods, high-fat meat and poultry, high-fat dairies, hydrogenated fat, fast food, salt, and sweets). High adherence to Western pattern increased the risk of BBD (ORadj.=5.59, 95%CI:2.06-15.10, P<0.01), whereas high intake of Healthy pattern was associated with 74% lower risk of BBD (95%CI:0.08-0.81, P<0.05). In BBD population, Western pattern was correlated with over-expression of HIF-1α (radj.=0.309, P<0.05). There were inverse correlations between Healthy pattern and expressions of PPAR-γ (radj.=-0.338, P<0.05), HIF-1α (radj.=-0.340, P<0.05), and VEGF-A (radj.=-0.286, P<0.05). In conclusion, new findings suggested that the Healthy pattern was associated inversely with the risk of BBD, and this could be correlated with down-regulation of PPAR-γ, VEGF-A, and HIF-1α genes, which might hold promises to preclude BBD of malignant pathological transformation.