GOIZ ZAINDU study: a FINGER-like multidomain lifestyle intervention feasibility randomized trial to prevent dementia in Southern Europe.

BACKGROUND: GOIZ ZAINDU ("caring early" in Basque) is a pilot study to adapt the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) methodology to the Basque population and evaluate the feasibility and adherence to a FINGER-like multidomain intervention program. Additional aims included the assessment of efficacy on cognition and data collection to design a large efficacy trial. METHOD: GOIZ ZAINDU is a 1-year, randomized, controlled trial of a multidomain intervention in persons aged 60+ years, with Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) risk score ≥ 6, no diagnosis of dementia, and below-than-expected performance in at least one of three cognitive screening tests. Randomization to a multidomain intervention (MD-Int) or regular health advice (RHA) was stratified by sex, age (>/≤ 75), and cognitive status (mild cognitive impairment (MCI)/normal cognition). MD-Int included cardiovascular risk factor control, nutritional counseling, physical activity, and cognitive training. The primary outcomes were retention rate and adherence to the intervention program. Exploratory cognitive outcomes included changes in the Neuropsychological Test Battery z-scores. Analyses were performed according to the intention to treat. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-five participants were recruited (mean age: 75.64 (± 6.46); 58% women). The MD-Int (n = 61) and RHA (n = 64) groups were balanced in terms of their demographics and cognition. Fifty-two (85%) participants from the RHA group and 56 (88%) from the MD-Int group completed the study. More than 70% of the participants had high overall adherence to the intervention activities. The risk of cognitive decline was higher in the RHA group than in the MD-Int group in terms of executive function (p =.019) and processing speed scores (p =.026). CONCLUSIONS: The GOIZ-ZAINDU study proved that the FINGER methodology is adaptable and feasible in a different socio-cultural environment. The exploratory efficacy results showed a lower risk of decline in executive function and processing speed in the intervention group. These results support the design of a large-scale efficacy trial. TRIAL REGISTRATION: GOIZ ZAINDU feasibility trial was approved and registered by the Euskadi Drug Research Ethics Committee (ID: PI2017134) on 23 January 2018. Retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06163716) on 8 December 2023.

Beneficial effect of bilingualism on Alzheimer's disease CSF biomarkers and cognition.

Bilingualism as a component of cognitive reserve has been claimed to delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, its effect on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) AD-biomarkers has not been investigated. We assessed cognitive performance and CSF AD-biomarkers, and potential moderation effect of bilingualism on the association between age, CSF AD-biomarkers, and cognition. Cognitively healthy middle-aged participants classified as monolinguals (n = 100, nCSF = 59), early (n = 81, nCSF = 55) and late bilinguals (n = 97, nCSF = 52) were evaluated. Models adjusted for confounders showed that bilinguals performed better than monolinguals on digits backwards (early-bilinguals p = 0.003), Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO) (early-bilinguals p = 0.018; late-bilinguals p = 0.004), and Trail Making Test-B (late-bilinguals p = 0.047). Early bilingualism was associated with lower CSF total-tau (p = 0.019) and lower prevalence of preclinical AD (NIA-AA classification) (p = 0.02). Bilingualism showed a moderation effect on the relationship between age and CSF AD-biomarkers and the relationship between age and executive function. We conclude that bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve enhancing executive and visual-spatial functions. For the first time, this study reveals that early bilingualism is associated with more favorable CSF AD-biomarker profile.

Diet, cognition, and Alzheimer's disease: food for thought.

INTRODUCTION: The prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become a real challenge due to its rising prevalence and the lack of an effective cure. Diet and nutrients have gained significant interest as potentially modifiable protective factors. PURPOSE: The aim of this review is to provide an updated summary of evidence related to the effect of diet and nutritional factors on the risk of AD and cognitive aging, and discuss the potential mechanisms and confounding factors involved. METHODS: A search was conducted in Medline and Web of Knowledge for epidemiological and clinical studies in the international literature from January 2000 to February 2013 using combinations of the following keywords: "Alzheimer's disease", "mild cognitive impairment", "cognitive function", "dietary factors", "omega-3", "antioxidants", "B vitamins", "dietary patterns", and "Mediterranean diet". RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Data from observational studies point to a protective role for certain nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants or B vitamins, and dietary patterns (Mediterranean diet). However, data from randomized controlled trials do not show a consistent effect. Whether confounding factors such as age, disease stage, other dietary components, cooking processes, and other methodological issues explain the divergent results remains to be established. Moreover, if certain nutrients protect against dementia, it is as yet unknown whether they may have a general effect on brain vascular health or directly interfere with the etiopathogenesis of AD.

Sterols heating: degradation and formation of their ring-structure polar oxidation products.

Cholesterol and phytosterols can be oxidised under heating conditions to give sterol oxidation products (SOPs), known by their toxic effects. This paper studied the degradation of cholesterol and three plant sterols during a 360 min heating treatment (180 °C). The formation and further degradation of SOPs was also analysed by GC-MS. Results revealed a sterol susceptibility to degradation according to the following decreasing order: campesterol≈ß-sitosterol≥stigmasterol>cholesterol. The degradation curve fit (R(2)=0.907-0.979) a logarithmic model. SOPs increased their concentration during the first 5-10 min and thereafter, their degradation rate was higher than their formation rate, resulting in a decrease over time. Irrespective of the sterol from which they had derived, 7-keto derivatives presented the highest levels throughout the entire process, and also SOPs with the same type of oxidation followed a similar degradation pattern (R=0.90-0.99).