Cholesterol-metabolism, plant sterols, and long-term cognitive decline in older people – Effects of sex and APOEe4
Matteo Spinedi,
Christopher Clark,
Leonardo Zullo,
Anja Kerksiek,
Giorgio Pistis,
Enrique Castelao,
Armin von Gunten,
Martin Preisig,
Dieter Lütjohann,
Julius Popp
Affiliations
Matteo Spinedi
University Hospital of Psychiatry and University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
Christopher Clark
University Hospital of Psychiatry and University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
Leonardo Zullo
Service of Old Age Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Anja Kerksiek
Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Giorgio Pistis
Psychiatric Epidemiology and Psychopathology Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Enrique Castelao
Psychiatric Epidemiology and Psychopathology Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Armin von Gunten
Service of Old Age Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Martin Preisig
Psychiatric Epidemiology and Psychopathology Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Dieter Lütjohann
Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Julius Popp
University Hospital of Psychiatry and University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Service of Old Age Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Corresponding author
Summary: Neurodegenerative, vascular, and dementia diseases are linked to dysregulations in cholesterol metabolism. Dietary plant sterols, or phytosterols, may interfere to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline, and have cholesterol-lowering, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant qualities. Here, we investigated the potential associations between circulating cholesterol precursors and metabolites, triglycerides, and phytosterols with cognitive decline in older people by performing multivariate analysis on 246 participants engaged in a population-based prospective study. In our analysis we considered the potential effect of sex and APOEe4. We reveal particular dysregulations of diet-derived phytosterols and endogenous cholesterol synthesis and metabolism, and their variations over time linked to cognitive decline in the general population. These results are significant to the development of interventions to avoid cognitive decline in older adults and suggest that levels of circulating sterols should be taken into account when evaluating risk.
