Abstract
Background
The focus of the current research climate is shifting from understanding the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its diagnosis to primary prevention and intervention strategies. Early detection combined with intervention strategies could reduce disease effects. Diet represents one potential intervention strategy accessible to all. The Mediterranean diet (MeDi), due to its correlation with a low morbidity and mortality for many chronic diseases, has been widely recognised as a healthy eating model. In fact, recent reports suggest that adherence to the MeDi may affect not only the risk of AD, but also of pre-dementia syndromes and their progression to overt dementia. However, the investigation of dietary factors, AD risk and disease course, is a relatively young field of research and there is a critical need for data collected from a well-characterised ageing cohort.
Methods
Our work reports data collected from the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study of Ageing,. the Cancer Council of Victoria Food Frequency Questionnaire (CCV FFQ) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Food Frequency Questionnaire (CSIRO FFQ) were used to evaluate the intake of foods and beverages including components reported as potentially beneficial for AD and cognition.These measures were then analysed in conjunction with Pittsburgh compound B positron emission tomography (PiB-PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), blood biomarker, and cognitive data collected from the participants.
Results
Our findings suggest that in an Australian population, MeDi is associated with a protective effect. Furthermore, for the first time, we demonstrate a strong association between MeDi adherence and neuroimaging biomarkers of AD.
Conclusions
To our knowledge, this represents the most comprehensive study of its kind, and the first to assess the relationship between diet and neuroimaging biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease.