Association between dietary intake of antioxidants and prevalence of femoral head cartilage defects and bone marrow lesions in community-based adults

Objective. Although there is evidence for a beneficial effect of dietary antioxidants on knee joint health, the data are sparse for the hip. Our aim was to examine the relationship between dietary antioxidants and early hip structural abnormalities in community-based adults. Methods. The study included 214 participants without diagnosed hip osteoarthritis (OA) who underwent hip magnetic resonance imaging in 2009-2010. The prevalence of femoral head cartilage defects and bone marrow lesions (BML) was assessed. Intakes of antioxidant vitamins and their food sources were estimated from a food frequency questionnaire during 1990-1994. Results. Higher intakes of Vitamin E (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.41-0.96), lutein/zeaxanthin (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.34-0.99), and lycopene (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.44-0.95) were associated with a reduced prevalence of femoral head cartilage defects. Higher intakes of α-carotene (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.19-0.94), β-carotene (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.13-0.78), and lutein/zeaxanthin (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.18-0.98) were associated with a reduced prevalence of femoral head BML. Higher vegetable consumption was associated with a reduced prevalence of femoral head cartilage defects (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.46-0.91) and BML (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.37-0.97). Conclusion. Higher carotenoids intake and vegetable consumption were associated with reduced risk of hip cartilage defects and BML, and higher Vitamin E intake was associated with reduced risk of hip cartilage defects. These findings suggest a beneficial effect of dietary antioxidants on hip joint health. Although our findings need to be confirmed in other longitudinal studies, they suggest that the modification of dietary antioxidant intake may be a strategy for the prevention of hip OA.