Association of Serum Vitamin D with the Risk of Incident Dementia and Subclinical Indices of Brain Aging: The Framingham Heart Study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ioannis Karakis, Emory University; Matthew P. Pase, Boston University; Alexa Beiser, Boston University; Sarah L. Booth, Tufts University; Paul F. Jacques, Tufts University; Gail Rogers, Tufts University; Charles DeCarli, University of California, Davis; Ramachandran S. Vasan, Framingham Heart Study; Thomas J. Wang, Vanderbilt University; Jayandra J. Himali, Boston University; Cedric Annweiler, University of Angers; Sudha Seshadri, Boston University
• Language: English
• Date: 2016-01-01
• Publisher: IOS Press
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 IOS Press and the authors.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-150991
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
• ISSN: 1387-2877
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 451
• End Page: 461
• Grant/Funding Information: Dr Pase is funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Early Career Fellowship (APP1089698).; This work was supported by the Framingham Heart Study’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute contract (N01-HC-25195) and by grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS17950) and from the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG016495, AG008122, AG033193, AG031287).
• Keywords: D-RECEPTOR; HORMONE; nutritional status; AMYLOID-BETA; vitamin D; Neurosciences & Neurology; risk factors; METAANALYSIS; VASCULAR DEMENTIA; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; lifestyle; dementia; Alzheimer's disease; magnetic resonance imaging; Neurosciences; brain; diet; Science & Technology; neuropsychology; NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION; COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE
• Research Categories: Gerontology; Biology, Neuroscience; Health Sciences, General

Abstract

Background: Identifying nutrition- and lifestyle-based risk factors for cognitive impairment and dementia may aid future primary prevention efforts. Objective: We aimed to examine the association of serum vitamin D levels with incident all-cause dementia, clinically characterized Alzheimer's disease (AD), MRI markers of brain aging, and neuropsychological function. Methods: Framingham Heart Study participants had baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations measured between 1986 and 2001. Vitamin D status was considered both as a continuous variable and dichotomized as deficient (<10ng/mL), or at the cohort-specific 20th and 80th percentiles. Vitamin D was related to the 9-year risk of incident dementia (n=1663), multiple neuropsychological tests (n=1291) and MRI markers of brain volume, white matter hyperintensities and silent cerebral infarcts (n=1139). Results: In adjusted models, participants with vitamin D deficiency (n=104, 8% of the cognitive sample) displayed poorer performance on Trail Making B-A (β=-0.03 to -0.05±0.02) and the Hooper Visual Organization Test (β=-0.09 to -0.12±0.05), indicating poorer executive function, processing speed, and visuo-perceptual skills. These associations remained when vitamin D was examined as a continuous variable or dichotomized at the cohort specific 20th percentile. Vitamin D deficiency was also associated with lower hippocampal volumes (β=-0.01±0.01) but not total brain volume, white matter hyperintensities, or silent brain infarcts. No association was found between vitamin D deficiency and incident all-cause dementia or clinically characterized AD. Conclusions: In this large community-based sample, low 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with smaller hippocampal volume and poorer neuropsychological function.