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Dietary Total Antioxidant Capacity and Cognitive Function in Older Adults in the United States: The NHANES 2011–2014

  • Original Research
  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

Oxidative stress level takes part in the development of cognitive decline. However, the association between total antioxidant capacity (TAC) from diet and cognitive function is controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between TAC and the cognitive function of older adults in the U.S.

Design

A cross-sectional study.

Setting

National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys database.

Participants

2712 older adults aged over 60 years.

Measurements

TAC was calculated from 8 antioxidative vitamins based on the reference values for vitamin C equivalent antioxidant capacity obtained from individuals’ 24 h dietary recall. Four memory-related assessments were employed [Immediate Recall test (IRT), Delayed Recall test (DRT), Animal Fluency test (AFT), and Digit Symbol Substitution test (DSST)].

Results

Among the 2712 participants, the median age was 68 years, and 50.4% were women. Participants in the group with higher TAC levels had relatively higher IRT, AFT and DSST scores (P=0.025, P=0.008, P<0.001, respectively). In adjusted weighted linear regression, log-transformed TAC was positively associated with AFT (β=1.10, 95%CI: 0.51, 1.70) and DSST (β=2.81, 95%CI: 1.16, 4.45). Compared with the first quartile, the participants in the second (Q2 vs. Q1, OR=0.66, 95%CI: 0.43,1.02) and fourth quartile (Q4 vs. Q1, OR=0.47, 95%CI:0.28, 0.78) of log-transformed TAC showed a decreased risk of impaired cognitive function (ICF) after adjusting for confounders. The dose-response analysis indicated a gradual descent in the risk of ICF as TAC increases. Diabetes mellitus (DM) mediated part of the effect of TAC on ICF. The relationship between TAC and ICF was more pronounced in subjects with DM (Q4 vs Q1, OR=0.36, 95%CI:0.17, 0.74).

Conclusion

Our findings support that higher dietary antioxidant potential was related to a decreased risk of cognitive dysfunction, particularly in the subjects with DM who may have oxidative injury. DM was one of the factors mediating the effect of TAC on ICF.

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Data Availability Statement: The data of this study was available from NHANES website (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/). All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express gratitude to participants and members of the NHANES.

Funding

Funding: This work was supported by grants from following funding: The National Natural Science Foundation of China (82271304, 81801150, 81971121, 82171316 and 81671167); The Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China (2017A020215049, 2019A050513005); Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2018A0303130182, 2020A1515010279 and 2022A1515012311); The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (21621102) Science and Technology Projects in Guangzhou, China (2014Y2-00505, 202002020003, 202201010127) Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou: Key Lab of Guangzhou Basic and Translational Research of Pan-vascular Diseases; 202201020042); Clinical Frontier Technology Program of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, China (JNU1AF-CFTP-2022-a01203); Young Talent Support Project of Guangzhou Association for Science and Technology (QT-2023-024); This work was supported by grants from Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou—Key Lab of Guangzhou Basic and Translational Research of Pan-vascular Diseases (202201020042), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81971121, 82171316, 81801150, 82271304, and 81671167), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (2017A020215049, 2019A050513005), Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2018A0303130182 and 2020A1515010279), the Basic and Applied Basic Research Fund Project of Guangdong Province (2022A1515012311), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (21621102), Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, China (2014Y2-00505, 201508020004), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou (202002020003, 202201010127).

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  1. Contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology and Stroke Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No.613, Huangpu Road West, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510630, China

    M. Peng, Y. Liu, Y. Wu, X. Zou, M. Ke, K. Cai, L. Zhang, Dan Lu & Anding Xu

  2. Clinical Neuroscience Institute, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

    M. Peng, Y. Wu, X. Zou, M. Ke, L. Zhang, Dan Lu & Anding Xu

  3. Department of Neurology, Affiliated Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    X. Jia

  4. Key Lab of Guangzhou Basic and Translational Research of Pan-vascular Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

    M. Peng, Y. Wu, X. Zou, M. Ke, L. Zhang & Anding Xu

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  1. M. Peng
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Correspondence to Dan Lu or Anding Xu.

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Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics declarations: The study protocols of NHANES were approved by the NCHS Research Ethics Review Board and participant written informed consent was obtained (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/irba98.htm). The additional ethical review was no longer required for the present study due to the usage of publicly available data without identifiable personal information.

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Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The protocols of NHANES were approved by the NCHS Research Ethics Review Board.

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Peng, M., Liu, Y., Jia, X. et al. Dietary Total Antioxidant Capacity and Cognitive Function in Older Adults in the United States: The NHANES 2011–2014. J Nutr Health Aging 27, 479–486 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-023-1934-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-023-1934-9

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