UC Davis

Background

The association of different types of tocopherols (vitamin E) with cognition might vary by the APOEɛ4 allele status.

Objective

We examined the association of dietary tocopherols with cognitive decline among participants with and without the APOEɛ4 allele over a median of 12 years.

Methods

2,193 participants from the Chicago Health and Aging Project were included in the analyses. Global cognition was assessed in three-year cycles. We used a 144-item FFQ to assess dietary intakes of tocopherols and hME Sequenom mass-array platform to assess APOE genotype. We used linear mixed effects models to examine the relationship between tocopherol from food sources and global cognitive decline.

Results

The mean baseline age was 74.1 (SD = 5.9) years. Among APOEɛ4 carriers, participants in the highest quintile of intakes of dietary vitamin E had a slower cognitive decline of 0.022 SDU (95% CI: 0.000, 0.043) compared to those in the lowest quintile. A higher intake of dietary α-tocopherol from food sources only was associated with slower cognitive decline in APOEɛ4 carriers (p for trend 0.002) but not among the non-carriers (p for trend 0.937). Among APOEɛ4 carriers, those in the highest quintile of intake of α-tocopherol had a 16.4% slower rate of decline of global cognition compared to those in the lowest quintile (β= 0.034, 95% CI: 0.013, 0.054).

Conclusions

Individuals consuming high α-tocopherol from food sources had slower cognitive decline among APOEɛ4 carriers. In older adults, different forms of vitamin E might moderate the relationship of APOEɛ4 with global cognition.