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Objective. COQ2 mutations have been reported in Japanese multiple system atrophy (MSA) patients. We examined the role of COQ2 in patients with dementia and essential tremor (ET), two common neurodegenerative conditions. Materials & Methods. A total of 2064 subjects, including 560 patients with dementia, 466 patients with ET, and 1038 healthy controls, were included. Genotyping for the COQ2 V393A (T>C) was carried out. Odds ratio (OR) adjusted by age and gender, together with 95% confidence interval (CI), was reported by means of logistic regression. Results. The frequency of the polymorphic variant V393A heterozygous (T/C) was 2.7% in dementia, 1.1% in ET, and 2.5% in controls (OR = 0.70, 95% confidence interval is 0.29–1.72 for dementia, and OR = 0.47, 95% confidence interval is 0.17–1.31, p=0.1217 for ET). There was no significant association between V393A variant with dementia and ET. Conclusion. There was no significant association between V393A variant with dementia and ET. COQ2 gene is unlikely to play a significant role in patients with dementia or ET in our population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of dementia has been widely reported, and its potential risk and protective factors are well-characterized. However, there is a scarcity of related information regarding mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Thus this population-based study aimed to determine the prevalences of MCI and its subtypes, as well as to identify the risk and protective factors for MCI in the Chinese elderly population of Singapore. Results showed that the overall prevalence of MCI was 12.5%, while the gender-adjusted prevalence of MCI was 12.3%. Gender was found to be significantly associated with the subtypes of MCI, with males more likely to have amnestic MCI and females more likely to have non-amnestic MCI. Older age, lower educational levels, lower social activity levels, depression, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and stroke were found to be risk factors for MCI in univariate analysis. However, multivariable analysis showed that only hypertension and stroke were the significant risk factors for MCI. Higher educational levels and active social engagements were significant protective factors for MCI in multivariable analysis. Age and depression had boundary significant associations with the prevalence of MCI. After adjusting for gender, the influence of hypertension, stroke, social engagement, age and depression on MCI remained unchanged, except that education became a boundary significant lower risk factor of MCI development. In conclusion, this study presented the prevalence, risk and protective factors for MCI among Singaporean Chinese older adults, which facilitates the screening of vulnerable groups for MCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How diet is related with cognition and health has not been systematically examined in Asians whose eating habits are very different from their counterparts in the West and the biological mechanisms underlying such links are not well known yet. The diet and healthy aging (DaHA) study is a community-based longitudinal study conducted to examine the role of diet and nutrition in promoting cognitive, emotional, and physical health among community-living elderly Singaporeans. The first wave of DaHA, conducted from 2011 to 2017, provided detailed information on diet and baseline cognitive function and health from 1010 community-living elderly in Singapore. Biomarkers of oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, and genetic information were collected. The ongoing second wave of DaHA is conducted from 2017 to 2020, which provides follow- up assessments using established cognitive tests and clinical tools. This well-characterized cohort, with its archived biological samples and high-quality data on diet and lifestyle factors will allow researchers to explore the relationships among diet, nutrition, genes, cognition, mental and physical health in an extremely cost-effective manner. Translations of the research findings into clinical and public health practices will potentially help to promote cognitive health at the population level and reduce healthcare costs related to cognitive impairment.