AUTHOR=Margara-Escudero Hernando J. , Zamora-Ros Raul , de Villasante Izar , Crous-Bou Marta , Chirlaque María-Dolores , Amiano Pilar , Mar Javier , Barricarte Aurelio , Ardanaz Eva , Huerta José María 

TITLE=Association Between Egg Consumption and Dementia Risk in the EPIC-Spain Dementia Cohort

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.827307

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.827307

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Current evidence suggests that egg composition might have potential neuroprotective effects. Our aim was to determine the association between egg consumption and the risk of dementia in a Mediterranean population.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>This study was carried out in 3 centers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Spain Dementia Cohort, i.e., 25,015 participants aged 30–70 years, recruited in 1992–1996, and followed up for a mean of 21.5 years.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>A total of 774 incident dementia cases were diagnosed and validated, of which 518 were Alzheimer's disease (AD). Data on egg consumption were estimated using a validated dietary history questionnaire at recruitment. Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for confounders, were used in the analyses. No association was observed between egg consumption and either total dementia [hazard ratio between extreme quartiles (HR<sub>Q4vs.Q1</sub>: 1.05; 95% CI 0.85–1.31; <italic>p</italic>-trend = 0.93)] or AD (HR<sub>Q4vs.Q1</sub> 0.93; 95% CI 0.72–1.21; <italic>p</italic>-trend = 0.50) risks. After dividing the population by adherence to the relative Mediterranean diet (rMED) score, a borderline inverse association was found between egg intake and both total dementia (HR<sub>Q4vs.Q1</sub>: 0.52; 95% CI 0.30–0.90; <italic>p</italic>-trend = 0.10) and AD (HR<sub>Q4vs.Q1</sub>: 0.52; 95% CI 0.27–1.01; <italic>p</italic>-trend = 0.13) risks within participants with low adherence to rMED score. However, no association was observed in participants with medium and high adherence to rMED score.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>This prospective study suggests that egg consumption is associated with a reduced risk of dementia, and specifically of AD, in the adult population with low adherence to rMED score; whereas it has no impact in subjects with moderate and high MD adherence.</p></sec>