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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #394137
Research Project: Nutrition, Epidemiology, and Healthy Aging

Location: Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging

Title: Is dietary choline intake related to dementia and Alzheimer's disease risk: results from the Framingham Heart Study

Author
item YUAN, JING - Chinese Academy Of Medical Sciences
item LIU, XUE - Boston University
item LIU, CHUNYU - Boston University
item ANG, ALVIN - Boston University
item MASSARO, JOSEPH - Boston University
item DEVINE, SHERRAL - Boston University
item AUERBACH, SANFORD - Boston University
item KRZYSZTOF BLUSZTAJN, JAN - Boston University
item AU, RHODA - Boston University
item JACQUES, PAUL - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University

Submitted to: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/27/2022
Publication Date: 12/1/2022
Citation: Yuan, J., Liu, X., Liu, C., Ang, A.F., Massaro, J., Devine, S.A., Auerbach, S.H., Krzysztof Blusztajn, J., Au, R., Jacques, P.F. 2022. Is dietary choline intake related to dementia and Alzheimer's disease risk: results from the Framingham Heart Study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac193.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac193

Interpretive Summary: Dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease (AD), presents a significant global public health and social care challenge, and recent studies suggest that dietary factors can influence disease risk and prevention. Prior studies investigated the beneficial effect of higher dietary choline intake on human cognition and the risk of incident dementia or AD, but findings were unclear and inconsistent. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the association between dietary choline intake and the risk of incident dementia or AD. We examined over 3,000 participants from the Framingham Heart Study for an average of over 16 years to test the hypothesis that higher dietary choline intake is associated with decreased risk of incident dementia or AD. Our results showed that total choline intake was not associated with either incident dementia (HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.52-2.11, p=0.89) or AD (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.48-2.42, p=0.86).

Technical Abstract: Background: The positive association of choline for cognition has been reported in both animal and human studies, yet the association of choline with the risk of incident dementia or Alzheimer's disease (AD) in humans is unclear. Objective: To test the hypothesis that higher dietary choline intake is associated with decreased risk of incident dementia or AD. Design: Framingham Heart Study participants free of dementia and stroke (n=3,171, 53.6% female, mean +/- SD age 54.5 +/- 9.7 y) completed the self-report 126-item Harvard food-frequency questionnaire with questions about food consumed for the prior 12-mo period. The amount of total choline intake and its constituents (phosphatidylcholine, free choline, glycerophosphocholine, phosphocholine, and sphingomyelin) were evaluated based on a published nutrient database. The associations of total choline intake and each constituent with incident dementia and AD were examined in the mixed effect Cox proportional hazard models. Covariates of age, sex, education, BMI, total energy intake, and overall diet quality were adjusted. Results: After mean +/- SD follow-up time of 16.2 +/- 5.1years, 251 and 176 participants were diagnosed as incident dementia or AD, respectively. After adjusting for covariates, total choline intake was not associated with either incident dementia (HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.52-2.11, p=0.89) or AD (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.48-2.42, p=0.86). Nonsignificant associations were consistent for each constituent. Conclusion: Dietary total choline intake or its constituents were not associated with incident dementia or AD.