Genetic Variants Influencing Biomarkers of Nutrition Are Not Associated with Cognitive Capability in Middle-Aged and Older Adults
Year: 2013
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Several investigations have observed positive associations between good nutritional status, as indicated by micronutrients, and cognitive measures; however, these associations may not be causal. Genetic polymorphisms that affect nutritional biomarkers may be useful for providing evidence for associations between micronutrients and cognitive measures. As part of the Healthy Ageing across the Life Course (HALCyon) program, men and women aged between 44 and 90 y from 6 UK cohorts were genotyped for polymorphisms associated with circulating concentrations of iron [rs4820268 transmembrane protease, serine 6 (TMPRSS6) and rs1800562 hemochromatosis (HFE)], vitamin B-12 [(rs492602 fucosyltransferase 2 (FUT2)], vitamin D ([rs2282679 group-specific component (GC)] and β-carotene ([rs6564851 beta-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase 1 (BCMO1)]. Meta-analysis was used to pool within-study effects of the associations between these polymorphisms and the following measures of cognitive capability: word recall, phonemic fluency, semantic fluency, and search speed. Among the several statistical tests conducted, we found little evidence for associations. We found the minor allele of rs1800562 was associated with poorer word recall scores [pooled β on Z-score for carriers vs. noncarriers: -0.05 (95% CI: -0.09, -0.004); P = 0.03, n = 14,105] and poorer word recall scores for the vitamin D-raising allele of rs2282679 [pooled β per T allele: -0.03 (95% CI: -0.05, -0.003); P = 0.03, n = 16,527]. However, there was no evidence for other associations. Our findings provide little evidence to support associations between these genotypes and cognitive capability in older adults. Further investigations are required to elucidate whether the previous positive associations from observational studies between circulating measures of these micronutrients and cognitive performance are due to confounding and reverse causality.
Source: Journal of Nutrition
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,200
Funders: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wellcome Trust, British Heart Foundation, University College London, University of Edinburgh, Health and Safety Executive, Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, National Institutes of Health, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, National Institute on Aging, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Awards: G1093300281, G1137313802, G1167024831, G1466358154, G1492072473, G1896713975, G2064885621, HALCyon Healthy Ageing across the Life Course, G2307454678, G2425175678, Health behaviors over the adult lifecourse and cognitive aging, G2507151542, G2594517499, G269567959, G2719016821, G2751663742, Determinants of healthy ageing in the Whitehall II study, G2824707892, G2928833717, G3251713059, G3278553629, G3349769430, G3747358395, G443238052, G4522451727, G4641403149, G4746977625, G4856618060, G4950536974, G5067462658, G5175381056, G5208912463, G538581767, G5412976545, G5502349062, G5568298347, A national DNA control series for genetic case-control studies based on the British 1958 birth cohort, G6060264546, G6122601559, G6172210748, G6239859655, G6354209809, G643113813, G6661414329, G690763772, A genome-wide association study of non-pathological cognitive ageing, G7243315025, G7374949320, G7584390538, G7627314639, G7782480062, Socio-economic status and heterogeneity in aging, Socioeconomic gradient in CHD in early old age, G8648435156, G9000120579, G9000178614, English Longitudinal Study of Ageing - Renewal 2024
OpenAlex ID: W2132383388