Association of dietary quercetin with reduced risk of proximal colon cancer
Abstract
Quercetin is a flavonol that appears to be protective against several cancers, but its possible role in prevention of colorectal cancer is not yet well studied. We evaluated dietary intakes of quercetin and risk of colorectal cancer in a large case-control study conducted in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan (N = 2664). The protective effects of quercetin intake, as assessed by a food frequency questionnaire, were confined to risk of proximal colon cancer. Stratified analyses showed that the protective effects of quercetin on risk of proximal colon cancer were significant only when fruit intake or the Healthy Eating Index score was high, or when tea intake was low, with odds ratios (OR) for the highest vs. the lowest quartile of 0.49, 0.44, and 0.51, respectively. Increased quercetin intake had no protective effects when tea intake was high. Interestingly, increased intake of quercetin was associated with increased risk of distal colon cancer when total fruit intake was low (OR for the highest vs. the lowest quartile = 1.99). These results suggest that quercetin can have disparate effects on colon cancer risk depending on whether dietary intakes of fruit or tea are high, and that quercetin had protective effects only on proximal, not distal, colon cancer.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a case-control, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 2,664 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Quercetin Influences Quorum Sensing in Food Borne Bacteria: In-Vitro and In-Silico Evidence
- Phenolic-protein interactions: insight from in-silico analyses – a review
- In Silico Discovery of Candidate Drugs against Covid-19
- Neuropharmacological Effects of Quercetin: A Literature-Based Review
- In vitro and in silico anti-dengue activity of compounds obtained from Psidium guajava through bioprospecting
- Effect of Quercetin Rich Onion Extracts on Bacterial Quorum Sensing
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.