Association between the dietary lipid intake and the development of oral precancerous lesions in university students

Although the effects of dietary lipids on cancer have been reported, no references were found with respect to oral precancerous lesions (OPLs). The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between the dietary lipids and the risk of developing OPL in university students. Ninety-eight out of 658 examined subjects of both sexes, age range 18-45 years old, were distributed in 30 cases and 68 controls. After clinical diagnosis of OPL and selection of controls, a food frequency and non-nutritional factor-based questionnaires were applied to both groups. A positive association was observed for a low intake of total saturated fatty acids (FAs) (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.31-24.40) and of stearic acid 18:0 (95% CI = 1.25-35.11) while an inverse association was found for butyric acid 4:0 (95% CI = 0.03-0.69). An inverse trend was observed for a high intake of saturated lauric acid 12:0 (90% CI = 0.11-0.97) and myristic acid 14:0 (90% CI = 0.07-0.96), total polyunsaturated (90% CI = 0.09-0.94) and polyunsaturated linoleic acid 18:2 (90% CI = 0.08-0.90) and omega-3 tymnodonic acid 20:5 FAs (90% CI = 0.08-0.91) as well as a positive trend of a low intake of total fat (90% CI = 1.04-9.73) and monounsaturated palmitoleic acid 16:1 FA (90% CI = 1.06-10.52). Although further research is required, dietary lipids appear to be associated with the development of OPL in 18- to 45-year-old university students.