Evidence supports an association between vitamin deficiencies and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). If vitamin deficiencies are causative for AD development, they should be detectable during very early stages of AD. Here we investigated nutritional factors among home-living patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia due to AD, compared to healthy controls. Our study included 73 patients with AD (25 with MCI, 48 with dementia) and 63 cognitively intact age-matched controls. All participants underwent cognitive testing, somatic examination, and measurements of vitamins A, B1, B6, folate, B12, C, D, and E, and F2-α-isoprostane. Results are given as mean (SD). MMSE scores were 29.1 (1.0) for healthy controls, 27.4 (1.8) for patients with MCI, and 24.3 (3.2) for patients with dementia. Vitamin concentrations for the these groups, respectively, were as follows: B1 (nmol/l), 157 (29), 161 (35), and 161 (32); B6 (nmol/l), 57 (63), 71 (104), and 58 (44); folate (mmol/l), 23 (9), 26 (10), and 23 (11); B12 (pmol/l), 407 (159), 427 (116), and 397 (204); C (μmol/l), 63 (18), 61 (16), and 63 (29); A (μmol/l), 2.3 (0.6), 2.2 (0.5), and 2.3 (0.5); E (μmol/l), 36 (6.3), 36 (6.9), and 36 (8.2); 25-OH vitamin D (nmol/l), 65 (18), 61 (19), and 65 (20); and 8-iso-PGFα (pg/ml), 64 (27); 60 (19), and 66 (51). These concentrations did not significantly differ (p≤0.05) between the three groups. Our results do not support the hypothesis that vitamin deficiencies play a causative role in the development of early cognitive impairment.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; mild cognitive impairment; vitamin deficiencies.