Dietary manganese, plasma markers of inflammation, and the development of type 2 diabetes in postmenopausal women: findings from the Women’s Health Initiative

Objective<b>: </b>To examine the association between manganese intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes in postmenopausal women and determine whether this association is mediated by circulating markers of inflammation. <p>Research Design and Methods: We included 84,285 postmenopausal women without history of diabetes from the national Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS). Replication analysis was then conducted among 62,338 women participated in the WHI-Clinical Trial (WHI-CT). Additionally, data from a case-control study of 3,749 women nested in the WHI-OS with information on biomarkers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction were examined using mediation analysis to determine the relative contributions of these known biomarkers by which manganese affect T2D risk.</p> <p>Results: Compared with the lowest quintile of energy-adjusted dietary manganese, WHI-OS participants in the highest quintile had a 30% lower risk of type 2 diabetes (hazards ratio [HR] 0.70 [95% CI 0.65, 0.76]). A consistent association was also confirmed in the WHI-CT (HR 0.79 [95% CI 0.73, 0.85]). In the nested case-control study, higher energy-adjusted dietary manganese was associated with lower circulating levels of inflammatory biomarkers that significantly mediated the association between dietary manganese and type 2 diabetes risk. Specifically, 19% and 12% of type 2 diabetes risk due to manganese were mediated through interleukin 6 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions: Higher intake of manganese was directly associated with a lower type 2 diabetes risk independent of known risk factors. This association may be partially mediated by inflammatory biomarkers.</p>