Marilyn C Cornelis, Yuxi Liu, Dong D Wang, Lisa L Barnes, Hailie Fowler
Journal: Nutrients 2025;17(15):
PMID: 40806132
Alzheimer’s disease is a leading cause of dementia, and diet may play a role in slowing cognitive decline. The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet was developed to support brain health. The original MIND Trial was a three-year randomised controlled trial involving 604 adults at risk of Alzheimer’s dementia. It tested whether following the MIND diet could slow cognitive decline.
This study paper was conducted to describe the genetic component of the MIND trial. The aim was to create a high-quality genetic database to study how a person’s genes may influence their response to the MIND diet. Blood samples were collected from participants, and DNA was extracted and analysed to identify genetic differences between individuals. Careful quality-control procedures were used to ensure that the genetic data were accurate and reliable.
Results showed that genetic data quality differed depending on where samples were collected, the type of sample used, and how they were processed. After quality checks, genetic information from 494 participants of European ancestry and 58 participants of African ancestry was included in the final dataset. This resource allows researchers to explore how genetic variation may affect the impact of dietary interventions on cognitive health.
In conclusion, this study establishes a valuable genetic resource within the MIND Trial to support precision nutrition research. Healthcare professionals and researchers may use this information in the future to better understand how personalised dietary recommendations could help reduce the risk of cognitive decline.
The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) was a 3-year, multicenter, randomized controlled trial to test the effects of the MIND diet on cognitive decline in 604 individuals at risk for Alzheimer's dementia. Here, we describe the genotyping, imputation, and quality control (QC) procedures for the genetic data of trial participants. DNA was extracted from either whole blood or serum, and genotyping was performed using the Infinium Global Diversity Array. Established sample and SNP QC procedures were applied to the genotyping data, followed by imputation using the 1000 Genomes Phase 3 v5 reference panel. Significant study-site, specimen type, and batch effects were observed. A total of 494 individuals of inferred European ancestry and 58 individuals of inferred African ancestry were included in the final imputed dataset. Evaluation of the imputed genotype against gold-standard sequencing data showed high concordance (98.2%). We replicated several known genetic associations identified from previous genome-wide association studies, including SNPs previously linked to adiponectin (rs16861209, = 1.5 × 10), alpha-linolenic acid (rs174547, = 1.3 × 10), and alpha-tocopherol (rs964184, = 0.003). This dataset represents the first genetic resource derived from a dietary intervention trial focused on cognitive outcomes. It enables investigation of genetic contributions to variability in cognitive response to the MIND diet and supports integrative analyses with other omics data types to elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying cognitive decline. These efforts may ultimately inform precision nutrition strategies to promote cognitive health.
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