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Association between antioxidant nutritional indicators and the incidence of dementia: results from the PAQUID prospective cohort study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 57, pages 1555–1561 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To analyse the relation between antioxidant vitamins A, E, and malondialdehyde (MDA) lipoperoxidation product plasma concentrations with incident dementia.

Design: A nested case–control within the PAQUID (Personnes Agées QUID) cohort.

Setting: The PAQUID population-based prospective cohort in southwestern France.

Subjects: Among 626 subjects with blood collection at baseline, 46 developed a dementia during the follow-up and were considered to be cases. Each case was matched (on age and sex) to three controls.

Results: Plasma vitamin E concentrations were lower among cases (mean value at 22.62 μmol/l (s.d.: 7.38) vs 24.99 (s.d.: 6.73 among controls). The same trend was observed for vitamin A concentrations, but the difference was not significant. On the contrary, MDA concentrations tended to be higher (mean value 1.35 μmol/l (s.d.: 0.53) vs 1.23 (s.d.: 0.44)) among cases. In logistic regression models, plasma values were split into tertiles. Adjusted for confounders, the risk of dementia was significantly increased in the lowest vitamin E tertile (≤21.0 μmol/l) (OR=3.12, P=0.033) compared to the highest one (≥25.5 μmol/l). The risk of Alzheimer's disease was also increased, with borderline significance (OR=3.06, P=0.053). Risks associated with vitamin A were nonsignificant. Similarly, there was a trend to an increased risk of dementia in the highest tertile of MDA (OR=1.67, P=0.31).

Conclusions: These results suggest that subjects with low plasma vitamin E concentrations are at a higher risk of developing a dementia in subsequent years.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from Fondation de France, Novartis Pharma, SCOR, Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Maladie, Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie de Dordogne, Conseil Général de la Dordogne, Conseil Général de la Gironde, Conseil Régional d'Aquitaine, Danone, Ministère de la Recherche et de la Technologie, Mutualité Sociale Agricole de Gironde et Dordogne, Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale, Société Pechiney, 2010 Media, Caisse de Retraite Interentreprise, Capimmec, Institut du Cerveau, Direction Régionale des Affaires Sanitaires et Sociales d'Aquitaine.

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Author notes

  1. C Helmer, E Peuchant, L Letenneur, I Bourdel-Marchasson, S Larrieu, J F Dartigues, L Dubourg, M-J Thomas and P Barberger-Gateau: Contributors: CH analysed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. LD and MJT did the biochemical analyses. CH, EP, LL, IB-M, SL, JFD, and PB-G contributed to the data interpretation. JFD, PB-G, LL, and EP were responsible for the study concept and design. JFD, PB-G and IB-M obtained funding. PB-G and LL supervised the study. All authors made a critical revision of the manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM U. 330, Université de Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, Cedex, France

    C Helmer, L Letenneur, S Larrieu, J F Dartigues & P Barberger-Gateau

  2. Laboratoire de Biochimie et de Biologie Moléculaire, Université de Bordeaux 2, 146 rue Léo Saignat, Bordeaux, Cedex, France

    E Peuchant, L Dubourg & M-J Thomas

  3. Centre de Gériatrie Henri Choussat, Hopital Xavier-Arnozan, CHU de Bordeaux, Pessac, France

    I Bourdel-Marchasson

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Correspondence to C Helmer.

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Helmer, C., Peuchant, E., Letenneur, L. et al. Association between antioxidant nutritional indicators and the incidence of dementia: results from the PAQUID prospective cohort study. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, 1555–1561 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601724

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