Plasma Proteins Associated with the Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) Diet and Incident Dementia.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to identify plasma proteins associated with the MIND diet score and assess their ability to predict incident dementia.
Results Summary
The study identified 62 proteins linked to the MIND diet, with 21 improving diet score prediction. Five proteins were significantly associated with dementia risk, improving prediction beyond known risk factors.
Population
10,230 Black and White participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Median follow-up of 21 years
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MIND diet | decrease | cognitive decline | - | - | slows | #1 |
MIND diet | increase | brain health | - | - | protects | #2 |
MIND diet score | neutral | 316 proteins | discovery sample | false discovery rate <0.05 | associated with | #3 |
MIND diet score | neutral | 62 proteins | replication sample | - | associated with | #4 |
MIND diet score | increase | high MIND diet adherence | - | - | improved prediction of | #5 |
thrombospondin-2 | increase | incident dementia | - | hazard ratio (HR): 1.19; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11, 1.29 | associated with | #6 |
protein ABHD14A | increase | incident dementia | - | hazard ratio (HR): 1.23; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11, 1.37 | associated with | #7 |
structural maintenance of chromosomes protein 3 | increase | incident dementia | - | hazard ratio (HR): 1.19; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08, 1.31 | associated with | #8 |
epidermal growth factor receptor | decrease | incident dementia | - | hazard ratio (HR): 0.68; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.53, 0.86 | associated with | #9 |
interleukin-12 subunit beta | increase | incident dementia | - | hazard ratio (HR): 1.14; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05, 1.25 | associated with | #10 |
5 diet-related proteins | increase | prediction of dementia risk | - | - | improved | #11 |
BACKGROUND: The Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet slows cognitive decline and protects brain health, but the mechanisms are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine the plasma proteins associated with the MIND diet score and their ability to predict incident dementia in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. METHODS: We analyzed 10,230 Black and White participants at visit 3 (1993-1995) with food frequency questionnaire and proteomics data and randomly divided them into discovery (n = 6850) and replication (n = 3380) samples. We examined associations between the MIND diet score and 4955 proteins using multivariable linear regression and elastic net regression. C-statistics were calculated to assess if proteins improved the prediction of high MIND diet adherence beyond participant characteristics. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess associations between significant diet-related proteins and incident dementia over 2 decades. C-statistics assessed the ability of significant proteins to improve dementia prediction beyond known risk factors. RESULTS: Of 316 proteins associated with the MIND diet score in the discovery sample at a false discovery rate <0.05, 62 were internally replicated. Of these, 21 proteins selected by the elastic net individually improved MIND diet score prediction. After a median follow-up of 21 y, there were 2311 dementia cases. Five diet-related proteins, thrombospondin-2 [hazard ratio (HR): 1.19; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11, 1.29], protein ABHD14A (HR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.37), structural maintenance of chromosomes protein 3 (HR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.31), epidermal growth factor receptor (HR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.53, 0.86), and interleukin-12 subunit beta (HR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.25) were significantly associated with incident dementia. All 5 proteins individually and together improved the prediction of dementia risk. CONCLUSIONS: Using high-throughput proteomics, we identified candidate biomarkers of the MIND diet score and incident dementia, which are implicated in neural signaling, angiogenesis, and anti-inflammatory pathways.