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Published on: October 13, 2016
Higher serum vitamin D3 levels are associated with better cognitive test performance in patients with Alzheimer's
C Oudshoorn1, F U S Mattace-Raso, N van der Velde
1Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Geriatric Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Background/Aims:
Recent studies suggest that vitamin D metabolites may be important for preserving cognitive function via specific neuroprotective effects. No large studies have examined the association between vitamin D status and cognition.
Methods:
In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) levels and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test scores of 225 older outpatients who were diagnosed as having probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). In addition to the 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) levels, we analyzed the serum vitamin B(1), B(6) and B(12) levels.
Results:
An association was found between MMSE test scores and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) levels, with a beta-coefficient of 0.05 (p = 0.01). Vitamin-D-sufficient patients had significantly higher MMSE scores as compared to vitamin-D-insufficient ones. No association was found with the other serum vitamin levels.
Conclusions:
These data support the idea that a relationship exists between vitamin D status and cognition in patients with probable AD. However, given the cross-sectional design of this study, no causality can be concluded. Further prospective studies are needed to specify the contribution of vitamin D status to the onset and course of cognitive decline and AD.
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