Dietary probiotic ingestion is associated with elevated enterolignans concentration in the United States population, evidenced by NHANES 1999-2010

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the associations between urinary enterolignans concentration and oral probiotic ingestion using nationally representative data from the United States population.

Methods: We analyzed dietary recall data and urinary enterolignans concentrations from 12,358 eligible participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2010. Linear regression models with comprehensive covariate adjustments were employed to assess associations, accounting for demographic, socioeconomic, health status, and lifestyle factors.

Results: Participants with dietary probiotic ingestion had higher urinary concentrations of enterolignans, and probiotic ingestion showed robust and profound positive correlations with enterolignans after fully adjusted with multiple confounders (all p values<0.05). Frequent probiotic consumption exerts a more profound and positive impact on enterolignans concentrations than Infrequent probiotic consumption, according to correlation coefficient values in both univariate and multivariate analyses.

Conclusion: Dietary probiotic consumption was significantly associated with elevated urinary enterolignans concentrations in the U.S. population, with high-frequency intake demonstrating a stronger dose-response relationship compared to low-frequency consumption.

Keywords: NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey); dietary; enterolignan; microbiota; probiotics.

Figure 1

Biochemical pathway of dietary lignan metabolism to enterolignans (END/ENL) and the modulatory role of probiotic intake. Biochemical pathway of dietary lignan metabolism to enterolignans (enterodiol [END] and enterolactone [ENL]) mediated by gut microbiota. Key steps include deglycosylation, demethylation, dehydroxylation, and oxidation/reduction, catalyzed by specific bacterial taxa (labeled below each step). Probiotics (e.g., Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium) may enhance metabolic flux by modulating microbiota composition or activity. Enterolignans are absorbed into systemic circulation, exerting health-promoting effects (Created with MedPeer.cn).

Figure 2

Flowchart of screening qualified participants for the observational study in NHANES 1999–2010.

Figure 3

Univariate linear regression analyses of dependent variates and enterolignans. OR, odds ratio; 95%CI, 95% confidence interval; ¹Enterodiol; ²Enterolactone; PIR, Poverty Income Ratio; BMI, Body Mass Index. This forest plot illustrates the univariate linear regression analyses of urinary enterolignans (enterodiol [END] and enterolactone [ENL]) concentrations across various demographic, socioeconomic, and dietary factors. The plot presents the regression coefficients (β) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each variable.