title: Association of Seafood Consumption, Brain Mercury Level, and APOE ε4 Status With Brain Neuropathology in Older Adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Seafood consumption is promoted for its many health benefits even though its contamination by mercury, a known neurotoxin, is a growing concern.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether seafood consumption is correlated with increased brain mercury levels and also whether seafood consumption or brain mercury levels are correlated with brain neuropathologies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional analyses of deceased participants in the Memory and Aging Project clinical neuropathological cohort study, 2004-2013. Participants resided in Chicago retirement communities and subsidized housing. The study included 286 autopsied brains of 554 deceased participants (51.6%). The mean (SD) age at death was 89.9 (6.1) years, 67% (193) were women, and the mean (SD) educational attainment was 14.6 (2.7) years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seafood intake was first measured by a food frequency questionnaire at a mean of 4.5 years before death.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dementia-related pathologies assessed were Alzheimer disease, Lewy bodies, and the number of macroinfarcts and microinfarcts. Dietary consumption of seafood and n-3 fatty acids was annually assessed by a food frequency questionnaire in the years before death. Tissue concentrations of mercury and selenium were measured using instrumental neutron activation analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 286 autopsied brains of 544 participants, brain mercury levels were positively correlated with the number of seafood meals consumed per week (ρ = 0.16; P = .02). In models adjusted for age, sex, education, and total energy intake, seafood consumption (≥ 1 meal[s]/week) was significantly correlated with less Alzheimer disease pathology including lower density of neuritic plaques (β = -0.69 score units [95% CI, -1.34 to -0.04]), less severe and widespread neurofibrillary tangles (β = -0.77 score units [95% CI, -1.52 to -0.02]), and lower neuropathologically defined Alzheimer disease (β = -0.53 score units [95% CI, -0.96 to -0.10]) but only among apolipoprotein E (APOE ε4) carriers. Higher intake levels of α-linolenic acid (18:3 n-3) were correlated with lower odds of cerebral macroinfarctions (odds ratio for tertiles 3 vs 1, 0.51 [95% CI, 0.27 to 0.94]). Fish oil supplementation had no statistically significant correlation with any neuropathologic marker. Higher brain concentrations of mercury were not significantly correlated with increased levels of brain neuropathology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In cross-sectional analyses, moderate seafood consumption was correlated with lesser Alzheimer disease neuropathology. Although seafood consumption was also correlated with higher brain levels of mercury, these levels were not correlated with brain neuropathology.
authors.affiliation: Section on Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Martha Clare
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Missouri University Research Reactor, Columbia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brockman
authors.affiliation: Rush Alzheimer Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois4Department of Neurology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois5Department of Pathology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Section on Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Yamin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Rush Alzheimer Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois4Department of Neurology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Nutrition, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Christy C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tangney
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ondine
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: van de Rest
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000032:analysis; D001344:Autopsy; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015930:Diet Records; D004522:Educational Status; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D017747:Seafood / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012643:Selenium / Q000032:analysis; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D008628:Mercury; D012643:Selenium
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