Background: There is an uncertainty to what an extent initiation of late onset dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) is related to nutritional factors.
Objective: To find any differences in nutrient concentrations between women (75-85 y), well-nourished with moderate DAT, and a control group, all without vascular disease.
Design: A case control study assessing clinical, anthropometrical, biochemical and micronutrient characteristics of 20 DAT patients and 18 free-living healthy women.
Results: Significant differences (* = p < 0.05) were found for the following nutrients, given in sequence (Mean (SD)) for controls and DAT patients, respectively: Thiamine (nmol/L): 11.7 (6.9), 7.1(3.7)*; Blood thiamine diphosphate (nmol/L): 86.0 (12.5), 65.8 (27.5)*; Pyridoxal-5-phosphate 90.2 (14), 24.8 (3.3)*; Cobalamin (nmol/L) 435(263), 350 (264)*; Homocysteine (mmol/L) 14.7 (1.3), 18.5 (1.6)*; Ascorbic acid (mmol/L) 77.7 (28), 46.2 (25)*; alpha-tocopherol (mmol/L) 38.2 (9.2), 27.1 (11.5)*; Serum and blood thiamine mono-phosphate and ascorbic acid in cerebrospinal fluid were significantly different as well. Age, BMI, MMSE, MADRS, 'Vascular Score ' and a set of other biochemical parameters were similar between the groups. Using logistic regression analysis, models for predicting the presence of DAT all contained pyridoxal-5-phosphate, and CSF-protein, in combination with either one of variables, age, ascorbic acid, retinol, alpha-tocopherol, homocysteine, thiamin-diphosphate, CSF-thiamin. All the models give complete separation between DAT and controls.
Conclusions: The presence of reduced concentrations of several vitamins in the DAT patients compared to the controls might indicate that these nutrients may contribute to the development of DAT.