Evaluation of dietary inflammatory and SLEDAI disease activity index and health parameters related to nutritional status in systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune connective tissue disease and the aim of its treatment is to suppress the disease activity and prevent the occurrence of damage. Recently, studies have drawn attention that nutritional intervention will help control the inflammatory manifestations of the disease and its complications resulting from treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the health parameters of individuals between the ages of 18-65 who were diagnosed with SLE and were given anti-inflammatory nutritional recommendations; is to reveal the change in disease activity (SLEDAI) and dietary inflammatory index (DII). The study was carried out on two separate groups for 12 weeks, and anti-inflammatory nutrition recommendations were given to 28 individuals with SLE in the first group, and 23 individuals with SLE in the second group continued their normal diets. At the beginning and end of the study, food consumption records of all individuals were taken and DII was calculated, anthropometric measurements were made, SLEDAI scores were calculated and biochemical findings were compared. At the end of 12 weeks, there was an average of 3.96±4.63 cm decrease in waist circumference of the individuals in the first group, and 0.17±4.60 cm in the individuals in the second group (p≤0.05). While the mean HDL level of the participants in the first group increased (from 48.04±13.07 mg/dL to 54.68±12.84 mg/dL), a decrease was observed in the second group (from 60.17±13.41 mg/dL to 55.77±12.75 mg/dL) ( p≤0.05). While the mean DII score increased from -0.72±4.40 to -4.53±4.31 in the first group, where nutritional recommendations were made, it showed an anti-inflammatory tendency; In the second group, a proinflammatory trend was observed from -0.19±4.62 to 0.41±5.79 (p≤0.05). The mean SLEDAI score in the first group ranged from 3.79±3.29 to 2.93±3.25; in the second group, it decreased from 4.39±6.30 to 4.04±4.76 (p≥0.05). In this study, although the positive effects of anti-inflammatory nutritional recommendations on the prognosis of SLE disease were observed, it would be beneficial to conduct randomized controlled studies with larger samples and long-term. Key Verbs: Anti-inflammatory nutrition, The Dietary Inflammatory Index, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus