Dietary intake and risk of metabolic syndrome in long-term survivors of pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

We explored the dietary intake and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in 85 survivors of pediatric stem cell transplantation (median age 30 years, median follow-up time 20 years). Overall, the distribution of fatty acid deviated from the recommendations with a higher intake of saturated fat and a lower intake of unsaturated fat but was comparable to that of the background population. The prevalence of MetS was 27%, corresponding to that of the elderly background population. We compared the intake of macronutrients between those with MetS and those without MetS and found that overall fat intake was higher in patients with MetS (36.7E% [range, 27.2-51.2E%] vs. 33,5E% (range, 23.4-45.1E%), P = 0.016). Within the subgroup of patients treated with total body irradiation (TBI), we found a higher fat intake in those with MetS (36.8E% (range, 27.2-51.2E%) versus 32.0E% (range, 24.6-42.1E%), P = 0.013). This was confirmed in a multivariate analysis adjusted for TBI, sex, and age at follow-up (OR 1.20 (1.06-1.39), P = 0.008). Our findings suggest that conditioning with the use of TBI may induce a state of hypersensitivity to the potentially harmful effects of fat in the diet and suggest that this risk of MetS after TBI treatment may be modifiable by dietary changes.