Department of Optometry and Visual Science, College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Department of Psychology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2023;94(1):405-413. doi: 10.3233/JAD-230233.
Macular pigment optical density (MPOD) remains an indispensable biomarker to measure fruit and vegetable intake, with a biologically plausible correlation to vision and cognition. However, evidence in the sub-Saharan regions, including Ghana, is lacking.
This study explored dietary carotenoid intake on MPOD and its influence on cognitive and visual function in a healthy Ghanaian sample.
The MPOD of 301 healthy subjects (aged 21.1±1.9 years) was evaluated using the customized Macular DensitometerTM. A battery of cognitive tests and standard vision assessments were employed to assess cognition and visual function, respectively. Dietary lutein and zeaxanthin (L and Z) were estimated based on a twenty-four-hour repeated dietary recall.
The mean MPOD at 0.5° and 1.0° eccentricities were 0.37±0.16 and 0.34±0.15 optical density units, respectively. Dietary intake of L (4.06±10.54 mg/day) was considerably higher than Z (0.33±2.25 mg/day), with cumulative L+Z estimated at 4.39±11.58 mg/day. MPOD was not significantly influenced by demographic, dietary, and visual measures (p≥0.05). However, after statistical adjustment, we found a small but statistically significant positive relationship between F-A-S phonemic verbal fluency (Unstandardized co-efficient (β) = 0.002, p = 0.016) and the never consumed alcohol category (β= 0.062, p = 0.02) with MPOD.
The findings in this population showed significant positive relationships between measures of cognition and no alcohol intake, with MPOD. These findings necessitate dietary education to augment carotenoid intake and limit alcohol intake for better cognitive functioning.
黄斑色素光学密度（MPOD）仍然是衡量水果和蔬菜摄入量的不可或缺的生物标志物，与视力和认知功能具有合理的生物学相关性。然而，包括加纳在内的撒哈拉以南地区的证据仍然缺乏。
本研究旨在探讨饮食中叶黄素和玉米黄质（L 和 Z）摄入量与 MPOD 之间的关系，并评估其对加纳健康人群认知和视觉功能的影响。
使用定制的 Macular DensitometerTM 评估了 301 名健康受试者（年龄 21.1±1.9 岁）的 MPOD。使用一系列认知测试和标准视力评估分别评估认知和视觉功能。基于 24 小时重复膳食回忆来估计叶黄素和玉米黄质（L 和 Z）的饮食摄入量。
0.5°和 1.0°偏心率的平均 MPOD 分别为 0.37±0.16 和 0.34±0.15 光密度单位。L（4.06±10.54 mg/天）的饮食摄入量明显高于 Z（0.33±2.25 mg/天），累积的 L+Z 估计为 4.39±11.58 mg/天。MPOD 不受人口统计学、饮食和视觉测量的影响（p≥0.05）。然而，经过统计调整后，我们发现 F-A-S 语音流畅性（未标准化系数（β）=0.002，p=0.016）和从不饮酒类别（β=0.062，p=0.02）与 MPOD 之间存在较小但具有统计学意义的正相关关系。
在该人群中，认知功能和不饮酒量与 MPOD 之间存在显著的正相关关系。这些发现需要进行饮食教育，以增加类胡萝卜素的摄入量，并限制饮酒，以提高认知功能。
