1. Does Diet Affect Inflammation and Cognition in an Aging Body?
Carole Kirwood
Supervisor: Dr Lisa Parkinson
Faculty of Health Sciences (Nutrition), Summer Internship Program
Background
 Diet is linked to inflammatory disease states and individual inflammatory profile can be modulated through dietary patterns 5
 Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) scores dietary constituents, food and drink to determine pro-inflammation and anti-inflammation affect on the
human body 3
 Inflammation is the body’s response to injury which delivers plasma proteins and leukocytes to the injury site 2
 Acute inflammation is the instantaneous response which normally repairs the injury site in a few days 2
 Chronic inflammation may have a slower response and is primarily characterised by its persistence and lack of clear resolution 2
 Inflammation is a natural part of the aging process and inflammatory disease states are common in an aged population 4
 Inflammatory cytokines can promote neuro inflammation which will affect cognitive function 4
The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between diet, inflammation and cognitive function in an aging population
Method
 Data was collected as part of the ARCLI study (Centre Human
Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University)
 A 113 item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used to obtain data from
participants (n=93, aged 60-75 )
 Portion sizes were calculated using age, gender and specific mean intakes from
Australian Health Survey Nutrition data 1
 Dietary patterns were then categorised as anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory
according to the DII
 Separate measures were used to determine levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines
(IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and INF-γ) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10) and CRP
Key Skills Obtained
 A positive DII score will be correlated with higher plasma
pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, lower anti-inflammatory
cytokine levels and reduced cognitive performance
 A negative DII score will be correlated with lower levels of
pro-inflammatory cytokines, higher anti-inflammatory
cytokine expression and improved cognitive performance
Expected Outcomes
1 Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Health Survey: Nutrition First Results - Foods and Nutrients, 2011-12. Canberra: ABS; 2014 May 9. Report No.: 4364.0.55.007. Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4364.0.55.007?OpenDocument
2 Wärnberg J, Gomez‐Martinez S, Romeo J, Díaz LE, Marcos A. Nutrition, inflammation, and cognitive function. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2009 Feb 1;1153(1):164-75.
3 Shivappa N, Steck SE, Hurley TG, Hussey JR, Hébert JR. Designing and developing a literature-derived, population-based dietary inflammatory index. Public health nutrition. 2014 Aug 1;17(08):1689-96.
4 Trollor JN, Smith E, Agars E, Kuan SA, Baune BT, Campbell L, Samaras K, Crawford J, Lux O, Kochan NA, Brodaty H. The association between systemic inflammation and cognitive performance in the elderly: the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study. Age. 2012 Oct 1;34(5):1295-308.
5 Wood AD, Strachan AA, Thies F, Aucott LS, Reid DM, Hardcastle AC, Mavroeidi A, Simpson WG, Duthie GG, Macdonald HM. Patterns of dietary intake and serum carotenoid and tocopherol status are associated with biomarkers of chronic low-grade systemic inflammation and cardiovascular risk. The British journal of nutrition. 2014 Oct 28;112(8):1341.
Team Collaboration
Adaptive Learning
and Contribution
Data Cleansing and
Input
Food Frequency
Questionnaire
application