Available online 20 April 2024, 117559

Lipoprotein particle size is associated with cardiovascular disease.

Dietary behaviours may be cardioprotective and the Nutri-Score labelling system could help guide consumers’ dietary choices.

Consuming foods with a poorer Nutri-Score rating was associated with a less favourable lipoprotein particle subclass profile.

A less pro-atherogenic lipoprotein status may be a potential mechanism underlying reported health benefits of a healthy diet according to Nutri-Score rating.

Lipoprotein particle concentrations and size are associated with increased risk for atherosclerosis and premature cardiovascular disease. Certain dietary behaviours may be cardioprotective and public health strategies are needed to guide consumers’ dietary choices and help prevent diet-related disease. The Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system (FSAm-NPS) constitutes the basis of the five-colour front-of-pack Nutri-Score labelling system. No study has examined FSAm-NPS index associations with a wide range of lipoprotein particle subclasses.

This was a cross-sectional study of 2,006 middle- to older-aged men and women randomly selected from a large primary care centre. Individual participant FSAm-NPS dietary scores were derived from validated food frequency questionnaires. Lipoprotein particle subclass concentrations and size were determined using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Multivariate-adjusted linear regression analyses were performed to examine FSAm-NPS relationships with lipoprotein particle subclasses.

In fully adjusted models which accounted for multiple testing, higher FSAm-NPS scores, indicating poorer dietary quality, were positively associated with intermediate-density lipoprotein (β = 0.096, p = 0.005) and small high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (β = 0.492, p = 0.006) concentrations, a lipoprotein insulin resistance score (β = 0.063, p = 0.02), reflecting greater lipoprotein-related insulin resistance, and inversely associated with HDL size (β = -0.030, p = 0.045).

A higher FSAm-NPS score is associated with a less favourable lipoprotein particle subclass profile in middle- to older-aged adults which may be a potential mechanism underlying reported health benefits of a healthy diet according to Nutri-Score rating.

Nutri-Score

Lipoproteins

Particles

Subclasses

© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.