Association between adherence to the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet and cerebrospinal fluid Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in middle-life individuals without dementia: the ALBION study.

OBJECTIVES

Accumulative evidence links MIND diet with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease, but the connecting mechanisms remain unclear. We explored whether this dietary patterns and its components was associated with Amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition in dementia-free middle-life individuals.

METHODS

250 participants [65 (58, 73) years, 63.2% women] underwent neurological cognitive assessments and dietary assessment (through four 24-hour dietary recalls). Aβ concentrations were measured in cerebrospinal fluid samples. MIND diet adherence was examined both as a continuous variable and as a distribution-based categorical variable using quartiles (Q1-Q4), with higher quartiles reflecting higher adherence. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted using MIND diet adherence (continuous or quartile-based) as the independent variable and Aβ deposition as the dependent variable.

RESULTS

Compared to lower MIND adherence (Q1), higher adherence (Q4) was associated with less pathological Aβ concentrations (OR = 0.431, 95% CI: 0.195-0.950, p = 0.037). Each 1-SD increase in adherence was associated with a 26% reduction in the odds of having pathological Aβ concentrations (OR = 0.736, 95% CI: 0.563-0.962, p = 0.025). Among MIND diet components, only leafy vegetables intake showed a significant association with Aβ burden (OR = 0.519, 95% CI: 0.277-0.972, p = 0.040, q = 0.485).

DISCUSSION: These cross-sectional findings suggest a potential mechanism that may partially explain the association between MIND diet adherence and cognitive function. Ηowever, they should be interpreted with caution, as the study sample may not be representative of community-based populations. Randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm this relationship.