Healthy dietary intake moderates the effects of age on brain iron concentration and working memory performance

Valentinos Zachariou; Christopher E. Bauer; Elayna R. Seago; Georgia Panayiotou; Edward D. Hall; D. Allan Butterfield; Brian T. Gold

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.06.016

Healthy dietary intake moderates the effects of age on brain iron concentration and working memory performance

Valentinos Zachariou, Christopher E. Bauer, Elayna R. Seago, Georgia Panayiotou, Edward D. Hall, D. Allan Butterfield, Brian T. Gold

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Age-related brain iron accumulation is linked with oxidative stress, neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. Certain nutrients can reduce brain iron concentration in animal models, however, this association is not well established in humans. Moreover, it remains unknown if nutrition can moderate the effects of age on brain iron concentration and/or cognition. Here, we explored these issues in a sample of 73 healthy older adults (61-86 years old), while controlling for several factors such as age, gender, years of education, physical fitness and alcohol-intake. Quantitative susceptibility mapping was used for assessment of brain iron concentration and participants performed an N-Back paradigm to evaluate working memory performance. Nutritional-intake was assessed via a validated questionnaire. Nutrients were grouped into nutrition factors based on previous literature and factor analysis. One factor, comprised of vitamin E, lysine, DHA omega-3 and LA omega-6 PUFA, representing food groups such as nuts, healthy oils and fish, moderated the effects of age on both brain iron concentration and working memory performance, suggesting that these nutrients may slow the rate of brain iron accumulation and working memory declines in aging.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	183-196
Number of pages	14
Journal	Neurobiology of Aging
Volume	106
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.06.016
State	Published - Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers NIA R01 AG055449, NIA R01 AG068055, NIA P30 AG028383 and NIGMS S10 OD023573 ). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of these granting agencies. The authors thank Dr. Flavius Raslau for evaluating T1W and FLAIR images for evidence of stroke and other abnormalities. We also thank Dr. Shoshana Bardach for help with participant recruitment, Beverly Meacham and Eric Foreman for assisting/conducting the MRI scans and Drs. David Powell, Anders Anderson and Pascal Spincemaille for helpful discussions.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Keywords

Brain iron
Nutrition, Moderation
QSM
Working memory

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Neuroscience (all)
Aging
Developmental Biology
Clinical Neurology
Geriatrics and Gerontology

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10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.06.016

Cite this

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title = "Healthy dietary intake moderates the effects of age on brain iron concentration and working memory performance",

abstract = "Age-related brain iron accumulation is linked with oxidative stress, neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. Certain nutrients can reduce brain iron concentration in animal models, however, this association is not well established in humans. Moreover, it remains unknown if nutrition can moderate the effects of age on brain iron concentration and/or cognition. Here, we explored these issues in a sample of 73 healthy older adults (61-86 years old), while controlling for several factors such as age, gender, years of education, physical fitness and alcohol-intake. Quantitative susceptibility mapping was used for assessment of brain iron concentration and participants performed an N-Back paradigm to evaluate working memory performance. Nutritional-intake was assessed via a validated questionnaire. Nutrients were grouped into nutrition factors based on previous literature and factor analysis. One factor, comprised of vitamin E, lysine, DHA omega-3 and LA omega-6 PUFA, representing food groups such as nuts, healthy oils and fish, moderated the effects of age on both brain iron concentration and working memory performance, suggesting that these nutrients may slow the rate of brain iron accumulation and working memory declines in aging.",

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note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers NIA R01 AG055449, NIA R01 AG068055, NIA P30 AG028383 and NIGMS S10 OD023573 ). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of these granting agencies. The authors thank Dr. Flavius Raslau for evaluating T1W and FLAIR images for evidence of stroke and other abnormalities. We also thank Dr. Shoshana Bardach for help with participant recruitment, Beverly Meacham and Eric Foreman for assisting/conducting the MRI scans and Drs. David Powell, Anders Anderson and Pascal Spincemaille for helpful discussions. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021",

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Healthy dietary intake moderates the effects of age on brain iron concentration and working memory performance

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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