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Abstract
Objective: To examine the cross-sectional relationship between nutrient status and psychometric and imaging indices of brain health in dementia-free elders.
Methods: Thirty plasma biomarkers of diet were assayed in the Oregon Brain Aging Study cohort (n = 104). Principal component analysis constructed nutrient biomarker patterns (NBPs) and regression models assessed the relationship of these with cognitive and MRI outcomes.
Results: Mean age was 87 ± 10 years and 62% of subjects were female. Two NBPs associated with more favorable cognitive and MRI measures: one high in plasma vitamins B (B1, B2, B6, folate, and B12), C, D, and E, and another high in plasma marine ω-3 fatty acids. A third pattern characterized by high trans fat was associated with less favorable cognitive function and less total cerebral brain volume. Depression attenuated the relationship between the marine ω-3 pattern and white matter hyperintensity volume.
Conclusion: Distinct nutrient biomarker patterns detected in plasma are interpretable and account for a significant degree of variance in both cognitive function and brain volume. Objective and multivariate approaches to the study of nutrition in brain health warrant further study. These findings should be confirmed in a separate population. Neurology® 2012;78:241–249
GLOSSARY
- AD=
- Alzheimer disease;
- CDR=
- Clinical Dementia Rating;
- EDTA=
- ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid;
- FFQ=
- food frequency questionnaire;
- HDL=
- high-density lipoprotein;
- HPLC=
- high-performance liquid chromatography;
- ICC=
- intraclass correlation coefficient;
- MMSE=
- Mini-Mental State Examination;
- NBP=
- nutrient biomarker pattern;
- OBAS=
- Oregon Brain Aging Study;
- PCA=
- principal component analysis;
- TCBV=
- total cerebral brain volume;
- TIV=
- total intracranial volume;
- WMH=
- white matter hyperintensity.
Footnotes
References e1–e13 are available on the Neurology® Website at www.neurology.org
Study funding: Supported by NIH/NCCAM AT004777 (G.L.B.), NIH/NIA P30 AG008017 (J.A.K.), NIH/NCRR UL1 RR024140 Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute, and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development.
Editorial, page 230
Supplemental data at www.neurology.org
- Received April 10, 2011.
- Accepted July 18, 2011.
- Copyright © 2012 by AAN Enterprises, Inc.
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