William B.Grant, Researcher, Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Centerwbgrant@infionline.net
Submitted May 07, 2013
Tsivgoulis et al. found that nondiabetics had reduced risk of cognitive impairment with high adherence to the Mediterranean diet while diabetics had reduced risk with lower adherence. [1] Differences in the prevalence of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) alleles may explain this finding. The ApoE epsilon2 (ApoE2) allele is associated with increased risk of diabetes mellitus [2] while the ApoE4 allele is associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease (AD). [3] There is also evidence that dietary effects on AD are affected by ApoE alleles. [4] While blacks have a higher prevalence of ApoE4 than whites or Hispanics, [5] the higher rate of diabetes associated with dietary factors may counter the effect of ApoE allele. It would be interesting in future studies to identify the components diet that affect risk of cognitive impairment as well as the interactions with genetic factors.
1.Tsivgoulis G, Judd S, Letter AJ, et al. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and risk of incident cognitive impairment. Neurology 2013;80:1684- 1692.
2. Anthopoulos PG, Hamodrakas SJ, Bagos PG. Apolipoprotein E polymorphisms and type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of 30 studies including 5423 cases and 8197 controls. Mol Genet Metab 2010;100:283-291.
3. Sachdev PS, Lipnicki DM, Crawford J, et al. Risk profiles of subtypes of mild cognitive impairment: the Sydney memory and ageing study. J Am Geriatr Soc 2012;60:24-33.
4. Barberger-Gateau P, Lambert JC, F?art C, P?r?s K, Ritchie K, et al. From genetics to dietetics: the contribution of epidemiology to understanding Alzheimer's disease. J Alzheimers Dis 2013;33 Suppl 1:S457- S463.
5. Grant WB. A multicountry ecological study of risk-modifying factors for prostate cancer: Apolipoprotein E ?4 as a risk factor and cereals as a risk reduction factor. Anticancer Res 2010.;30:189-199.
For disclosures, contact the editorial office at journal@neurology.org.
Tsivgoulis et al. found that nondiabetics had reduced risk of cognitive impairment with high adherence to the Mediterranean diet while diabetics had reduced risk with lower adherence. [1] Differences in the prevalence of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) alleles may explain this finding. The ApoE epsilon2 (ApoE2) allele is associated with increased risk of diabetes mellitus [2] while the ApoE4 allele is associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease (AD). [3] There is also evidence that dietary effects on AD are affected by ApoE alleles. [4] While blacks have a higher prevalence of ApoE4 than whites or Hispanics, [5] the higher rate of diabetes associated with dietary factors may counter the effect of ApoE allele. It would be interesting in future studies to identify the components diet that affect risk of cognitive impairment as well as the interactions with genetic factors.
1.Tsivgoulis G, Judd S, Letter AJ, et al. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and risk of incident cognitive impairment. Neurology 2013;80:1684- 1692.
2. Anthopoulos PG, Hamodrakas SJ, Bagos PG. Apolipoprotein E polymorphisms and type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of 30 studies including 5423 cases and 8197 controls. Mol Genet Metab 2010;100:283-291.
3. Sachdev PS, Lipnicki DM, Crawford J, et al. Risk profiles of subtypes of mild cognitive impairment: the Sydney memory and ageing study. J Am Geriatr Soc 2012;60:24-33.
4. Barberger-Gateau P, Lambert JC, F?art C, P?r?s K, Ritchie K, et al. From genetics to dietetics: the contribution of epidemiology to understanding Alzheimer's disease. J Alzheimers Dis 2013;33 Suppl 1:S457- S463.
5. Grant WB. A multicountry ecological study of risk-modifying factors for prostate cancer: Apolipoprotein E ?4 as a risk factor and cereals as a risk reduction factor. Anticancer Res 2010.;30:189-199.
For disclosures, contact the editorial office at journal@neurology.org.