Association between serum IL-6 concentrations and flavonol intake during the trial, stratified by baseline IL-6 concentrations (n = 872)
| IL-6 (T0) tertiles* (pg/mL) | Flavonol intake quartiles (mg/d)* | P† | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1: <21.2 | Q2: 21.2-29.7 | Q3: 29.8-40.0 | Q4: >40.0 | ||
| Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | ||
| IL-6 (T0) <1.53* | |||||
| Sample size | 65 | 71 | 79 | 76 | |
| Trial (T1,3‡) | 1.47 (1.15-1.84) | 1.49 (1.19-1.90) | 1.35 (1.01-1.72) | 1.44 (1.07-1.75) | 0.22 |
| Change (T1,3-T0‡) | 0.34 (0.00-0.58) | 0.36 (0.02-0.69) | 0.20 (−0.05-0.49) | 0.30 (0.01-0.58) | 0.15 |
| IL-6 (T0) 1.53-2.37* | |||||
| Sample size | 72 | 73 | 73 | 73 | |
| Trial (T1,3‡) | 2.07 (1.68-2.52) | 2.12 (1.79-2.69) | 1.93 (1.62-2.49) | 1.90 (1.52-2.50) | 0.29 |
| Change (T1,3-T0‡) | 0.22 (−0.17-0.51) | 0.33 (−0.22-0.76) | 0.12 (−0.31-0.49) | −0.08 (−0.37-0.42) | 0.13 |
| IL-6 (T0) >2.37* | |||||
| Sample size | 81 | 74 | 66 | 69 | |
| Trial (T1,3‡) | 3.39 (2.45-4.66) | 3.14 (2.15-4.90) | 2.72 (2.09-4.11) | 2.63 (1.77-3.56) | 0.01 |
| Change (T1,3-T0‡) | −0.26 (−1.15-0.66) | −0.90 (−2.31-0.26) | −0.76 (−1.91-0.15) | −0.75 (−1.65-0.01) | 0.05 |
↵*Participants were grouped in tertiles by their baseline IL-6 concentrations (T0) and in quartiles (Q1-Q4) by mean flavonol intake during the first 3 trial years.
↵†P values for differences in medians among the flavonol intake quartiles within baseline IL-6 tertiles were calculated based on the Kruskal-Wallis test. The P value for trend using a multiple regression model adjusting for age tertiles (<58, 58-66, >66 y), sex, average BMI (<25, 25.0-29.9, ≥30 kg/m2), current smoking status, and average energy intake (continuous) during the first 3 trial years was 0.008 for Trial (T1,3) and 0.02 for Change (T1,3-T0) for the highest baseline IL-6 tertile.
↵‡Trial (T1,3) = geometric mean of year 1 and year 3 values. Change (T1,3-T0) = T1,3 minus baseline values.