The Impact of Low Dietary Level Cadmium Exposure on Aging Phenotypes

Methods: Demographic, anthropometric, and fasting blood glucose (FBG) data were assessed.The 3-day food records were used to collect dietary intake which were analyzed using Food Processor v11.11 (Esha Research).Participants completed the following cognitive function tests: NIH Toolbox v3 Oral Reading Recognition (ORR; word reading), Picture Vocabulary (PV; receptive vocabulary), Picture Sequence Memory (PSM; episodic memory), and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT).Results: Four enrolled women, age median: 56.5 y (IQR: 55.5 -58.5),BMI median: 26 kg/m2 (IQR: 24-28), FBG median: 105 mg/dL (IQR: 102-115), performed within or above normative scores on the ORR, PV, and RAVLT attention trial (T1).Participant A showed impaired immediate memory (PSM z -2.13 and RAVLT Trial 6 z -2.1) and delayed verbal recall (RAVLT z -1.7) and recognition (15 hits and 3 false positives).The other three participants showed no impairment.Interestingly, participant A had the lowest intake of PUFA, below the recommendation of 10-28 g and the highest cholesterol intake (512 mg), above the recommended intake of < 300 mg.PUFA and cholesterol intake for the other three participants were within the recommended range.Except for Participant D, all participants exceeded the recommendation for saturated fat (10% of total energy intake).Conclusions: Our data indicate that low intake of PUFAs along with a high intake of cholesterol may be associated with impaired cognitive abilities in middle-aged women with prediabetes.Though, a larger sample size is needed to confirm this hypothesis.