Study on the Association of Dietary Fatty Acid Intake and Serum Lipid Profiles With Cognition in Aged Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Pengfei Li; Yanyan Gao; Xiaojun Ma; Shaobo Zhou; Yujie Guo; Jingjing Xu; Xixiang Wang; Nicholas Van Halm-Lutterodt; Linhong Yuan

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2022.846132

Study on the Association of Dietary Fatty Acid Intake and Serum Lipid Profiles With Cognition in Aged Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Mar 31:14:846132. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.846132. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Pengfei Li¹, Yanyan Gao¹, Xiaojun Ma¹, Shaobo Zhou², Yujie Guo¹, Jingjing Xu¹, Xixiang Wang¹, Nicholas Van Halm-Lutterodt³, Linhong Yuan¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² School of Life Sciences, Institute of Biomedical and Environmental Science and Technology, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, United Kingdom.
³ School of Professional Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States.

Abstract

Background: The correlation between dietary fatty acid (FA) intake and serum lipid profile levels with cognition in the aged population has been reported by previous studies. However, the association of dietary FA intake and serum lipid profile levels with cognition in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is seldom reported.

Objective: A cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the correlation between dietary FA intake and serum lipid profiles with cognition in the aged Chinese population with T2DM.

Methods: A total of 1,526 aged Chinese subjects were recruited from communities. Fasting blood samples were collected for parameter measurement. The food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) method was applied for a dietary survey. Cognition was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test. Dietary FA intake and serum lipid levels were compared between subjects with T2DM and control subjects. A logistic regression analysis was carried out for analyzing the association of FA intake and serum lipid levels with the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in subjects with T2DM and control subjects.

Results: There was a significant difference in the serum lipid level between the T2DM group and the control group. Results of the logistic regression analysis demonstrated the potential associations of serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), and dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) intake with the risk of MCI in subjects with T2DM, but the associations were not observed in control subjects.

Conclusion: The T2DM phenotype might affect the relationship between dietary FA intake, circulating lipids, and cognitive performance. Large prospective cohort studies are needed to uncover the underlying mechanism of how dietary FA intake and serum lipid levels affect cognition in aged subjects with T2DM.

Keywords: cognition; fatty acids; lipid; older adults; type 2 diabetes mellitus.