Sugary beverages and genetic risk in relation to brain structure and incident dementia: a prospective cohort study

Hui Chen; Jie Chen; Yaying Cao; Yuhao Sun; Liyan Huang; John S Ji; Trudy Voortman; Meike W Vernooij; Jie Shen; Yan Zheng; Geng Zong; Changzheng Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.01.015

Sugary beverages and genetic risk in relation to brain structure and incident dementia: a prospective cohort study

Am J Clin Nutr. 2023 Apr;117(4):672-680. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.01.015. Epub 2023 Jan 27.

Authors

Hui Chen¹, Jie Chen¹, Yaying Cao², Yuhao Sun¹, Liyan Huang¹, John S Ji³, Trudy Voortman⁴, Meike W Vernooij⁵, Jie Shen¹, Yan Zheng⁶, Geng Zong², Changzheng Yuan⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Nutrition, Metabolism and Food Safety, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
³ Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
⁶ Human Phenome Institute, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁷ School of Public Health, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: chy478@zju.edu.cn.

PMID: 36781080
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.01.015

Abstract

Background: The relation of intake of sugary beverages and genetic predisposition to the long-term risk of dementia and brain structure remains unclear.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the associations of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), artificially-sweetened beverages (ASBs), and natural juices (NJs) and the genetic predisposition with dementia risk and brain structure.

Methods: We included 177,926 UK Biobank participants without dementia at baseline and followed them until March 2021. Intake of SSBs, ASBs, and NJs was assessed using repeated web-based 24-h dietary recalls from 2009 to 2012. We calculated a polygenic risk score (PRS) to indicate genetic predisposition of dementia for each individual. We estimated the HRs and 95% CIs using Cox proportional hazard models for dementia risk and β coefficients and 95% CIs using linear models for brain imaging markers.

Results: During study follow-up (mean = 9.5 years), 1293 participants developed dementia (69.1 cases/100,000 person-years) excluding dementia cases within the first 2 years. Higher intake of SSBs and ASBs (>2 units/d compared with none) was each associated with a higher risk of dementia (HR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.77; P-trend = 0.040 for SSBs and 1.20; 95% CI: 0.84, 1.72; P-trend = 0.004 for ASBs). In contrast, moderate intake of NJs (>0-1 unit/d compared with none) was related to a lower dementia risk (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.87), a larger volume of brain gray matter (β = 0.05; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.08), and a lower volume of white matter hyperintensities (β = -0.07; 95% CI: -0.11, -0.03). The associations were not significantly modified by genetic risk (P-interactions = 0.839 for SSB × PRS, 0.732 for ASB × PRS, and 0.950 for NJ × PRS).

Conclusions: Higher SSB and ASB intake was associated with higher risk of dementia, and moderate NJ intake was associated with a lower risk of dementia. Am J Clin Nutr 20XX;xx:xx-xx.

Keywords: brain structure; dementia; genetic risk; sugary beverage.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Beverages / analysis
Brain
Dementia*
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Humans
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
Sugars*
Sweetening Agents

Substances

Sugars
Sweetening Agents