Presentation description

Diets that are high in acid content are associated with bone catabolism and poor physical function in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Whether measures of diet acidity and alkalinity are linked with physical function and bone health in people without CKD is unknown. One of the goals of the Dietary Acid Load Study (DETAIL) is to investigate this hypothesis. DETAIL is enrolling 260 US Veterans with diabetes and/or hypertension but without CKD. We conducted an interim analysis of 39 participants to determine the cross-sectional associations between 24hr-urinary ammonium (measure of diet acidity), 24hr-urinary citrate (measure of diet alkalinity) and serum bicarbonate (measure of systemic acid-base balance) with Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score and FRAIL score and measurements of procollagen type I propeptide (PINP, marker of bone formation) and C-terminal telopeptide (CTX, marker of bone turnover). Characteristics of the participants are the following: mean age (SD) 56 (13) years, 95% male, 24hr-urinary ammonium 48 (26) mEq/d, 24hr-urinary citrate 788 (436) mg/d and serum bicarbonate 24 (2) mEq/L. Using the lowest tertile of each acid-base indicator as the reference group, we did not identify any statistically significant difference in the middle or highest tertile of each acid-base indicator with SPPB score, FRAIL score, CTX and PINP. Although no significant associations were observed, the DETAIL study is ongoing and will determine relationships between dietary acid load and musculoskeletal health in US Veterans with diabetes and/or hypertension.