Diet, Inflammation, and Chronic Disease: Evolving Roles of the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®) in Research and Practice
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Metabolism".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2026 | Viewed by 114
Special Issue Editors
2. Department of Environmental Protection and Health Ecology, Teaching Institute of Public Health of Primorsko-Goranska County, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Interests: nutrition science; nutritional status; diet surveys; diet assessment; diet; food habits; Inflammation; cardiometabolic diseases; environmental health; ecology
Interests: metabolic syndrome; diet; inflammation; oxidative stress; biomarkers; gut microbiota; functional foods; nutritional interventions
Interests: obesity; metabolic syndrome; inflammation; oxidative stress; biomarkers; nutritional interventions
Interests: nutrition science; diet surveys; diet assessment; diet; food habits; environmental health; ecology; sustainable nutrition
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Chronic, low‑grade inflammation is a multifaceted pathway connecting diet to cardiometabolic, oncologic, neurocognitive, and ageing-related outcomes. The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®) and its energy‑adjusted variant (E‑DII®) were designed to quantify the inflammatory potential of diets and are now widely used across cohorts, trials, and mechanistic studies. Umbrella and scoping reviews confirm consistent associations between more pro‑inflammatory dietary profiles and adverse health outcomes, while also highlighting methodological heterogeneity and the need for mechanistic depth. Emerging evidence from large‑scale cohorts, biomarker validation studies, and phenome‑wide Mendelian randomization demonstrates a strong relationship between DII®/E‑DII® scores, inflammatory/oxidative stress biomarkers, multimorbidity, and disease risk. At the same time, mixed or context‑specific findings underscore the need for mechanistic understanding, standardized reporting, cultural adaptation, and integration with precision‑nutrition frameworks (genomics, multi‑omics, and microbiome). Therefore, this Special Issue aims to advance the scientific understanding of diet–inflammation pathways, the methodological rigor, translational relevance, and to support the development of evidence‑based strategies for disease prevention and health promotion. We invite submissions that address the Diet–Inflammation–Disease axis through innovative, multidisciplinary, and globally relevant approaches.
Dr. Gordana Kenđel Jovanović
Dr. Zala Jenko Pražnikar
Dr. Ana Petelin
Dr. Sandra Pavičić Žeželj
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- dietary inflammatory index (DII®)
- energy-adjusted DII (E‑DII®)
- diet‑related inflammation
- chronic disease risk
- precision nutrition
- anti‑inflammatory dietary patterns
- systemic inflammation
- nutritional epidemiology
- biomarkers of inflammation
- diet–disease relationships
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