The dietary inflammatory index (DII^®) and human papillomavirus infection: a cross-sectional study of US women

Diet may influence susceptibility of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection by affecting inflammation and immunity. However, the association between HPV infection and the inflammatory potential of diet has not been investigated. The research aimed to examine the correlation between HPV status and the dietary inflammatory index (DII^®).

We utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2016 to investigate the correlation between DII and HPV status among 9,256 women aged 18–59 years. DII scores were calculated based on 24-hour dietary recall interviews. The association between HPV status and DII was analyzed using weighted logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS).

Women with HPV infection exhibited higher DII scores than those without HPV infection. An increased likelihood of HPV infection was found to be significantly associated with higher DII scores (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.01–1.09, P = 0.021), after full multivariate adjustment. Compared with the lowest tertile of DII scores, the ORs (95% CIs) for HPV infection were 1.20 (1.01, 1.42) and 1.27 (1.07, 1.51) for the second and third tertiles, respectively (P for trend = 0.006). RCS analysis showed a U-shaped relationship between DII and HPV infection, with a breakpoint identified at 0.13.

Our findings suggest that a pro-inflammatory diet is associated with an increased likelihood of HPV infection among women in the United States. Dietary interventions to reduce inflammation may help prevent HPV infection and related diseases.