Carotenoid-rich brain nutrient pattern is positively correlated with higher cognition and lower depression in the oldest old with no dementia

Authors: TANPRASERTSUK, JIRAYU - Tufts University; SCOTT, TAMMY - Tufts University; BARBEY, ARON - University Of Illinois; BARGER, KATHRYN - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; WANG, XIANG-DONG - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; JOHNSON, MARY ANN - University Of Nebraska; POON, LEONARD - University Of Georgia; VISHWANATHAN, R. - Tufts University; MATTHAN, NIRUPA - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; LICHTENSTEIN, ALICE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; FERLAND, GUYLAINE - University Of Montreal; JOHNSON, ELIZABETH - Tufts University

Submitted to: Frontiers in Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/31/2021
Publication Date: 6/29/2021
Citation: Tanprasertsuk, J., Scott, T.M., Barbey, A.K., Barger, K., Wang, X., Johnson, M., Poon, L.W., Vishwanathan, R., Matthan, N., Lichtenstein, A.H., Ferland, G., Johnson, E.J. 2021. Carotenoid-rich brain nutrient pattern is positively correlated with higher cognition and lower depression in the oldest old with no dementia. Frontiers in Nutrition. 8:704691. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.704691.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.704691

Interpretive Summary: Healthy diets have consistently been associated with slower rates of cognitive decline in older adults. Although the potential benefits of individual nutrients on brain health has been documented, less is known about the relation between brain nutrient patterns and cognitive function in older adults. To address this issue brain tissue from centenarians who participated in the Georgia Centenarian Study was analyzed for carotenoids, vitamins A, E, K, and fatty acid profiles. A novel statistical approach was used to determine the relation between brain nutrient content and cognitive function measured at the closest time to death available. Among participants without diagnosed dementia, those with the highest concentration of carotenoids had significantly better performance on cognitive assessment tests than those with lower concentrations. Similar relations were not observed between cognitive performance and other nutrients or individual fatty acids measured. These findings suggest a unique role of carotenoids in maintaining brain health.

Technical Abstract: Background: Healthy dietary patterns are related to better cognitive health in aging populations. While levels of individual nutrients in neural tissues are individually associated with cognitive function, the investigation of nutrient patterns in human brain tissue has not been conducted. Methods: Brain tissues were acquired from frontal and temporal cortices of 47 centenarians from the Georgia Centenarian Study. Fat-soluble nutrients (carotenoids, vitamins A, E, K, and fatty acids [FA]) were measured and averaged from the two brain regions. Nutrient patterns were constructed using principal component analysis. Cognitive composite scores were constructed from cognitive assessment from the time point closest to death. Dementia status was rated by Global Deterioration Scale (GDS). Pearson's correlation coefficients between NP scores and cognitive composite scores were calculated controlling for sex, education, hypertension, diabetes, and APOE Epsilon4 allele. Result: Among non-demented subjects (GDS = 1-3, n = 23), a nutrient pattern higher in carotenoids was consistently associated with better performance on global cognition (r = 0.38, p = 0.070), memory (r = 0.38, p = 0.073), language (r = 0.42, p = 0.046), and lower depression (r = -0.40, p = 0.090). The findings were confirmed with univariate analysis. Conclusion: Both multivariate and univariate analyses demonstrate that brain nutrient pattern explained mainly by carotenoid concentrations is correlated with cognitive function among subjects who had no dementia. Investigation of their synergistic roles on the prevention of age-related cognitive impairment remains to be performed.