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25-Hydroxyvitamin D, APOE ɛ4 genotype and cognitive function: findings from the 1958 British birth cohort

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 69, pages 505–508 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Both high and low vitamin D statuses have been associated with lower memory function. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ɛ4 alleles have been associated with reduced memory function, and separately with higher vitamin D concentrations. This report aims to examine if the presence of APOE ɛ4 alleles contributes to the relationship between vitamin D and memory function. A total of 4848 (46% female) participants from the 1958 British birth cohort had information on APOE genotypes and completed memory tests at 50 years, where 4644 also had 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations measured at 45 years. Both low and high 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with lower memory function after adjustment for number of APOE ɛ4 alleles (Pcurvature=0.02). There was evidence of interaction between APOE ɛ4 and 25(OH)D, suggesting the association between 25(OH)D concentrations and memory function is different for those with two APOE ɛ4 alleles compared with those with zero or one APOE ɛ4 alleles (recessive model Pinteraction=0.01). Among participants with two APOE ɛ4 alleles, higher 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with higher memory function, whereas in others, memory scores were slightly lower for individuals with higher versus lower concentrations. Further studies are required to replicate these findings.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the participants in the 1958BC. We acknowledge Professor I Gibb, Dr S Turner and M-C Fawcett (Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK) for carrying out the laboratory assays and the Centre for Longitudinal studies, Institute of Education (original data producers), for providing the data. JM holds a UCL Impact studentship. The Medical Research Council funded the 2002–2004 clinical follow-up of the 1958 birth cohort (grant G0000934), 25(OH)D assays were funded by the BUPA Foundation. Further support was obtained from the Jeans for Genes, the UK Medical Research Council (grant G0601653 and SALVE/PREVMEDSYN with Academy of Finland). Research at the University College London Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust benefits from R&D funding received from the NHS Executive. All mentioned funders had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population, Policy and Practice, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK

    J Maddock, A Cavadino, C Power & E Hyppönen

  2. School of Population Health, Sansom Institute, University of South Australia, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    E Hyppönen

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  1. J Maddock
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Correspondence to J Maddock or E Hyppönen.

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Maddock, J., Cavadino, A., Power, C. et al. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D, APOE ɛ4 genotype and cognitive function: findings from the 1958 British birth cohort. Eur J Clin Nutr 69, 505–508 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.201

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