# Prospective Associations of Diet and Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Among Five Racial and Ethnic Populations

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA · 2023 · $174,600

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Diet is a promising modifiable factor for the prevention of late-onset Alzheimer's disease and related dementias
(LOADRD). Healthy diet may directly reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain and moderate
metabolic risk factors of LOADRD, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Specific foods and nutrients
(e.g., vegetables, fat-soluble vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, polyphenols) have been suggested as protective.
However, considering the complexity of diet and the synergistic effects of constituents, increasingly the research
focus is on overall dietary patterns: especially for LOADRD research, the Mediterranean diet (MED), the Dietary
Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and the Mediterranean-DASH intervention for Neurodegenerative
Delay (MIND) diet. While some prospective observational studies provide strong support for the protective effect
of these dietary patterns, mostly involving White populations and some African Americans, data is lacking for
Latino American, Asian American, and Native populations, which limits the understanding of dietary contributions
to ADRD disparities. Also, longitudinal studies of dietary change or maintenance are needed to provide evidence
for dietary interventions to reduce ADRD risks. To address these gaps, we propose a secondary data analysis
in the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study on African American, Japanese American, Latino, Native Hawaiian, and
White adults with high-quality dietary data and Medicare linkage-based ADRD outcomes (1999-2019). Based on
a validated food frequency questionnaire administered at cohort entry and 10-year follow-up, we have calculated
several dietary pattern scores (the alternate MED (aMED), DASH, the Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015),
and the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII)) and will compute the MIND score. Our analysis will include ~102,000
participants and ~19,000 ADRD cases. Specifically, we will evaluate the LOADRD risk associated with overall
dietary patterns (MIND, aMED, DASH, HEI-2015 and DII scores) (Aim 1) and the individual components of the
patterns and two specific nutrients (fat-soluble vitamins and polyphenols) (Aim 2) overall and by race and
ethnicity. We will assess these associations (a) based on the baseline intake, (b) for the change over 10 years,
and (c) by ADRD subtypes and by genetic risk (APOE e4 status or polygenic risk score). We hypothesize that
healthful dietary patterns will be protective against LOADRD across racial and ethnic groups, that improved
dietary quality will be associated with a reduced risk, and that the specific bioactive components, the consumption
of which vary by race and ethnicity, may have independent protective effects. Lastly, we will develop a novel
dietary pattern to capture the unique and diverse dietary features of the multiethnic population, and validate it by
examining its association with LOADRD (Aim 3). This project based in a large, long-term, multiethnic cohort,
equipped wi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10809518
- **Project number:** 1R03AG081824-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA
- **Principal Investigator:** Song-Yi Park
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $174,600
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-30 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10809518

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10809518, Prospective Associations of Diet and Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Among Five Racial and Ethnic Populations (1R03AG081824-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10809518. Licensed CC0.

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