Nutritional status and structural brain changes in Alzheimer's disease: The NUDAD project

Barbara J. H. Verhaar*, Francisca A. de Leeuw, Astrid S. Doorduijn, Jay L. P. Fieldhouse, Ondine van de Rest, Charlotte E. Teunissen, Bart N. M. van Berckel, Frederik Barkhof, Marjolein Visser, Marian A. E. de van der Schueren, Philip Scheltens, Maartje I. Kester, Majon Muller, Wiesje M. van der Flier

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Introduction: Weight loss is associated with higher mortality and progression of cognitive decline, but its associations with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes related to Alzheimer's disease (AD) are unknown. Methods: We included 412 patients from the NUDAD project, comprising 129 with AD dementia, 107 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 176 controls. Associations between nutritional status and MRI measures were analyzed using linear regression, adjusted for age, sex, education, cognitive functioning, and cardiovascular risk factors. Results: Lower body mass index (BMI), fat mass (FM), and fat free mass index were associated with higher medial temporal atrophy (MTA) scores. Lower BMI, FM, and waist circumference were associated with more microbleeds. Stratification by diagnosis showed that the observed associations with microbleeds were only significant in MCI. Discussion: Lower indicators of nutritional status were associated with more MTA and microbleeds, with largest effect sizes in MCI.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere12063
JournalAlzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Aug 2020

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