Does a pro-inflammatory diet increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in adults over 50 years old?

• Grant number: 24/08019-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Epidemiology
• Principal Investigator: Tiago da Silva Alexandre
• Grantee: Natália Cochar Soares
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

It is known that diet exert an important role in brain health and that systemic inflammation has been associated to neurodegenerative diseases. However, there is a lack of longitudinal studies that have assessed the effect of a greater inflammatory potential of diet on the incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia. The objectives of the present study are: 1) to analyze whether a pro-inflammatory diet increases the risk of cognitive impairment; and 2) analyze whether a pro-inflammatory diet increases the risk of dementia. This is a longitudinal study with five years of follow-up that will use data from participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA Study), both sexes and aged e 50 years old. The inflammatory potential of diet will be assessed by the Dietary Inflammatory Index, with a score divided into tertiles. In the incidence study of cognitive impairment, individuals without impairment at baseline will be included. Cognitive impairment will be assessed by tests of memory, executive function, attention and temporal orientation, in addition to a measure of global cognition, where the scores obtained will be standardized in z-scores by age and education strata. In the incidence study of dementia, participants free of dementia at baseline will be included. Dementia will be determined by the simultaneous presence of cognitive and functional impairment. To analyze the incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia, Cox proportional hazards models will be used, adjusted for sociodemographic, behavioral and clinical variables, also assessed at baseline. The study outcomes, cognitive impairment and dementia, will be reassessed after three and five years of follow-up. It is expected that individuals with greater inflammatory potential of diet will present a higher incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia over the five years of follow-up.