Dietary acrylamide and incident osteoporotic fractures: an 8-year prospective cohort study

Background Acrylamide, a component of fried foods, has been associated with several negative health outcomes. However, the relationship between dietary acrylamide and osteoporotic fractures has been explored by a few cross-sectional studies. Aims To investigate if dietary acrylamide is associated with the onset of fractures in North American participants at high risk/having knee osteoarthritis (OA), over 8 years of follow-up. Methods A Cox’s regression analysis, adjusted for baseline confounders was run and the data were reported as hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Dietary acrylamide intake was assessed at the baseline using a food frequency questionnaire and categorized in tertiles (T), whilst fractures’ history was recorded using self-reported information. Results Altogether, 4,436 participants were included. Compared to participants with lower acrylamide intake (T1; < 3,313 μg), those with a higher acrylamide intake (T3; > 10,180 μg) reported a significantly higher risk of any fracture (HR = 1.37; 95% CI 1.12–1.68; p for trend = 0.009), forearm (HR = 1.73; 95% CI 1.09–2.77; p for trend = 0.04), spine (HR = 2.21; 95% CI 1.14–4.31; p for trend = 0.04), and hip fracture (HR = 4.09; 95% CI 1.29–12.96; p for trend = 0.046). Conclusions Our study is the first to report that high dietary acrylamide may be associated with an increased risk of osteoporotic fractures.