High Fruit and Vegetable Intake is Positively Correlated with Antioxidant Status and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Subjects

Polidori, Maria Cristina; Praticò, Domenico; Mangialasche, Francesca; Mariani, Elisabetta; Aust, Olivier; Anlasik, Timur; Mang, Ni; Pientka, Ludger; Stahl, Wilhelm; Sies, Helmut; Mecocci, Patrizia; Nelles, Gereon

doi:10.3233/jad-2009-1114

Cited by 122 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…The specific protection shown by vegetables and particularly by the green leafy ones appears to be in disagreement with the concept that fruit and vegetable consumption might be beneficial in the frame of a generally healthy lifestyle, as health-conscious individuals tend to consume both fruits and vegetables. A positive association between fruit and vegetable intake, plasma antioxidant micronutrient level and cognitive performance was observed recently in 193 healthy subjects aged 45-102 years (Polidori et al 2009a). In this study, lycopene, a powerful antioxidant carotenoid, was associated with several measures of cognitive performance.…”

Section: Why Should We Care About Diet and Nutrition Against Cognitivsupporting

confidence: 66%

Nutritional contributions to dementia prevention: main issues on antioxidant micronutrients

Polidori

Schulz

2014

Genes Nutr

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There is an impressing body of evidence supporting the beneficial role of balanced nutrition in lowering the risk of dementia and its commonest form, Alzheimer's disease. Nevertheless, and despite worldwide dementia epidemic, there is much unfounded skepticism and lack of information among physicians. As a result, the diagnosis of cognitive impairment occurs still far too late, at best symptomatic drugs keep being prescribed and patients and caregivers are left with little concrete support in the hands of the natural history of the disease. This review summarizes knowledge about the impact of nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle and of micronutrients in particular on delaying and avoiding dementia onset.Why do we need to care about dementia Dementia is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder, and it is characterized by progression, multiple etiology, complex symptomatology including that related to a disturbance of cognitive performance and absence of a cure. During the course of the disease, the cognitive symptoms of dementia persist and steadily worsen and behavioral disturbances appear and progress and as a result intellectual and social abilities are affected enough to obstacle the performance of activities of daily living. According to dementia definition, a diagnosis of dementia can be done when the impairment of more cognitive domains lasts long enough and is associated with behavioral disturbances both affecting activities of daily living. Dementia is indeed associated with disability and a high grade of dependence on caregivers-usually family members. This condition of disability and dependence brings along an enormous social and economic burden which is linked to the epidemics of dementia and its commonest, untreatable form, Alzheimer's disease (AD). The major risk factor for dementia and AD is advanced age, and therefore, the societal impact of AD is increasing according to aging demographics (http:// ec.europa.eu/health/reports/european). Life expectancy at birth in the EU increased from 72 years in 1980 to 78 years in 2007. The population of industrialized countries progressed from a mean life expectancy of 35 years at the beginning of the last century, to currently over 80 years of age. People aged 65 years or older are expected to double between 1995 and 2050 to reach 135 million in the EU, with very old people, aged 80 years and older, being projected to grow as much as eight to ten times on the global scale by 2050. This will strongly impact the already challenging number of ten million AD cases in the EU. As a cure against dementia has not been found yet, health care professionals all over the world are predicted to face the diagnostic, therapeutic and socioeconomical challenges of over 115 million people with dementia by 2050 (Prince et al. 2013). This perspective might be even underestimated, particularly due to inadequate diagnosis, lack of awareness and low education. The dramatic loss of synapses and cholinergic neurons, accumulation of extracellular b amyloid (Ab) plaqu...

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Section: Why Should We Care About Diet and Nutrition Against Cognitivsupporting

confidence: 66%

Nutritional contributions to dementia prevention: main issues on antioxidant micronutrients

Polidori

Schulz

2014

Genes Nutr

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“…With regard to the potential role of lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin on AD, previous studies have reported decreased levels in AD patients compared to healthy subjects [25,26,27,40,41,42]. Mecocci et al [25] compared the levels of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and several nonenzymatic antioxidants between elderly AD patients and healthy age- and sex-matched controls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When cognitive function was classified into four levels, participants with the lowest cognitive scores were most likely to have low plasma levels of lycopene and zeaxanthin. In a study by Polidori et al [42], the cognitive score was negatively correlated with blood levels of lycopene and F2 alpha isoprostanes independent of age, gender, BMI, education, total cholesterol, LDL- and HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and albumin. Thus, these studies suggested that AD or cognitive impairment as a transitional stage of AD is associated with a poor plasma antioxidant status, increased plasma lipid and protein oxidative modification, and low resistance to peroxyl radical exposure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serum Lycopene, Lutein and Zeaxanthin, and the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease Mortality in Older Adults

Min

2013

Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord

107

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Background: Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Accumulating evidence shows that antioxidant-rich food reduces the risk of AD by inhibiting oxidative stress. This study investigates whether serum levels of carotenoids were associated with the risk of AD mortality in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Methods: We used data from the Third Nutrition and Health Examination Survey (NHANES III) database and the NHANES III Linked Mortality File. A total of 6,958 participants aged older than 50 years were included in this study. Results: We found that high serum levels of lycopene and lutein+zeaxanthin at baseline were associated with a lower risk of AD mortality after adjustment for potential covariates. The reduction in the mortality risk was progressively raised by increasing serum lycopene (HR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.10-0.69) and lutein+zeaxanthin (HR = 0.43, 95% CI 0.22-0.85) levels. In contrast, no associations with AD mortality were observed for other serum carotenoids, including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and beta-cryptoxanthin. Conclusion: High serum levels of lycopene and lutein+zeaxanthin are associated with a lower risk of AD mortality in adults. Our findings suggest that a high intake of lycopene- or lutein+zeaxanthin-rich food may be important for reducing the AD mortality risk.

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“…Epidemiologic studies have shown that high consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk for common causes of death (Lock et al 2005;He et al 2006aHe et al , 2007 and improves cognitive performance in healthy elderly people (Polidori et al 2009;Nurk et al 2010). Previous research from our laboratory, and several others, suggests that the combinations of antioxidant/antiinflammatory phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables may effectively combat some of the effects of aging [see Miller and Shukitt-Hale (2012) for a review of these studies].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tart cherry supplementation improves working memory, hippocampal inflammation, and autophagy in aged rats

Thangthaeng

Poulose

Gomes

et al. 2016

AGE

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High consumption of fruits and vegetables has been associated with reduced risk of debilitating diseases and improved cognition in aged populations. These beneficial effects have been attributed to the phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables, which have previously been shown to be anti-inflammatory and modulate autophagy. Tart cherries contain a variety of potentially beneficial phytochemicals; however, little research has been done to investigate the effects of tart cherry on the aging brain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if tart cherry supplementation can improve cognitive and motor function of aged rats via modulation of inflammation and autophagy in the brain. Thirty 19-month-old male Fischer 344 rats were weight-matched and assigned to receive either a control diet or a diet supplemented with 2 % Montmorency tart cherry. After 6 weeks on the diet, rats were given a battery of behavioral tests to assess for strength, stamina, balance, and coordination, as well as learning and working memory. Although no significant effects were observed on tests of motor performance, tart cherry improved working memory of aged rats. Following behavioral testing, the hippocampus was collected for western/densitometric analysis of inflammatory (GFAP, NOX-2, and COX-2) and autophagy (phosphorylated mTOR, Beclin 1, and p62/SQSTM) markers. Tart cherry supplementation significantly reduced inflammatory markers and improved autophagy function. Daily consumption of tart cherry reduced age-associated inflammation and promoted protein/cellular homeostasis in the hippocampus, along with improvements in working memory. Therefore, addition of tart cherry to the diet may promote healthy aging and/or delay the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.

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High Fruit and Vegetable Intake is Positively Correlated with Antioxidant Status and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Subjects

Cited by 122 publications

References 33 publications

Nutritional contributions to dementia prevention: main issues on antioxidant micronutrients

Nutritional contributions to dementia prevention: main issues on antioxidant micronutrients

Serum Lycopene, Lutein and Zeaxanthin, and the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease Mortality in Older Adults

Tart cherry supplementation improves working memory, hippocampal inflammation, and autophagy in aged rats

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