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Barh D, Aburjaile FF, Tavares TS, da Silva ME, Bretz GPM, Rocha IFM, Dey A, de Souza RP, Góes-Neto A, Ribeiro SP, Alzahrani KJ, Alghamdi AA, Alzahrani FM, Halawani IF, Tiwari S, Aljabali AAA, Lundstrom K, Azevedo V, Ganguly NK. Indian food habit & food ingredients may have a role in lowering the severity & high death rate from COVID-19 in Indians: findings from the first nutrigenomic analysis. Indian J Med Res 2023; 157:293-303. [PMID: 37102510 PMCID: PMC10438415 DOI: 10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_1701_22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 04/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Background & objectives During the COVID-19 pandemic, the death rate was reportedly 5-8 fold lower in India which is densely populated as compared to less populated western countries. The aim of this study was to investigate whether dietary habits were associated with the variations in COVID-19 severity and deaths between western and Indian population at the nutrigenomics level. Methods In this study nutrigenomics approach was applied. Blood transcriptome of severe COVID-19 patients from three western countries (showing high fatality) and two datasets from Indian patients were used. Gene set enrichment analyses were performed for pathways, metabolites, nutrients, etc., and compared for western and Indian samples to identify the food- and nutrient-related factors, which may be associated with COVID-19 severity. Data on the daily consumption of twelve key food components across four countries were collected and a correlation between nutrigenomics analyses and per capita daily dietary intake was investigated. Results Distinct dietary habits of Indians were observed, which may be associated with low death rate from COVID-19. Increased consumption of red meat, dairy products and processed foods by western populations may increase the severity and death rate by activating cytokine storm-related pathways, intussusceptive angiogenesis, hypercapnia and enhancing blood glucose levels due to high contents of sphingolipids, palmitic acid and byproducts such as CO2 and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Palmitic acid also induces ACE2 expression and increases the infection rate. Coffee and alcohol that are highly consumed in western countries may increase the severity and death rates from COVID-19 by deregulating blood iron, zinc and triglyceride levels. The components of Indian diets maintain high iron and zinc concentrations in blood and rich fibre in their foods may prevent CO2 and LPS-mediated COVID-19 severity. Regular consumption of tea by Indians maintains high high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low triglyceride in blood as catechins in tea act as natural atorvastatin. Importantly, regular consumption of turmeric in daily food by Indians maintains strong immunity and curcumin in turmeric may prevent pathways and mechanisms associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity and lowered the death rate. Interpretation & conclusions Our results suggest that Indian food components suppress cytokine storm and various other severity related pathways of COVID-19 and may have a role in lowering severity and death rates from COVID-19 in India as compared to western populations. However, large multi-centered case-control studies are required to support our current findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debmalya Barh
- Centre for Genomics and Applied Gene Technology, Institute of Integrative Omics & Applied Biotechnology, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India
- Department of Genetics, Ecology & Evolution, Institute of Biological Sciences, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Flávia Figueira Aburjaile
- Department of Preventative Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Thais Silva Tavares
- Department of Laboratory of Algorithms in Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | | | | | - Igor Fernando Martins Rocha
- Department of Centre of Research on Health Vulnerability, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Annesha Dey
- Centre for Genomics and Applied Gene Technology, Institute of Integrative Omics & Applied Biotechnology, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India
| | - Renan Pedra de Souza
- Department of Laboratory of Integrative Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Aristóteles Góes-Neto
- Department of Genetics, Ecology & Evolution, Institute of Biological Sciences, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Sérvio Pontes Ribeiro
- Department of Laboratory of Ecology of Diseases & Forests, Nucleus of Biological Research, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil
| | - Khalid J. Alzahrani
- Department of Clinical Laboratories Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ahmad A. Alghamdi
- Department of Clinical Laboratories Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Fuad M. Alzahrani
- Department of Clinical Laboratories Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ibrahim Faisal Halawani
- Department of Clinical Laboratories Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sandeep Tiwari
- Department of Post-Graduation Programs in Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Biology and Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil
| | - Alaa A. A. Aljabali
- Department of Pharmaceutics & Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan
| | | | - Vasco Azevedo
- Department of Genetics, Ecology & Evolution, Institute of Biological Sciences, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Nirmal Kumar Ganguly
- Policy Center for Biomedical Research, Translational Health Science & Technology Institute, Faridabad, Haryana, India
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