Food supplements to boost brain function – mind your blood vessels
Age-related chronic diseases including dementia, T2DM and CVD become more prevalent and of increasing societal concern. Newtricious (NWT)-03 is a novel egg-protein hydrolysate that has proven benefits on insulin-sensitivity and peripheral vascular function, which are risk markers for T2DM and CVD. Insulin-resistance is also associated with cognitive decline, while impaired brain vascular function is a key event preceding the development of impaired cognitive performance. We already found that the short-term intake of NWT-03 improved cognitive performance, but underlying mechanisms and long-term effects are still unknown. Therefore, we hypothesized that the novel egg-protein hydrolysate NWT-03 beneficially affects brain vascular function and cognitive performance following long-term daily intake.
We investigated the effect of NWT-03 on cerebral blood flow as a marker of brain vascular function. For this, a randomised, placebo-controlled intervention study in forty overweight or obese adults (aged 60-70) with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) was performed. SCD has emerged as a pre-mild cognitive impairment (pre-MCI) at risk condition of dementia. Participants received daily 5.7 g of NWT-03 or a placebo for 36 weeks. Non-invasive MRI methods were used to investigate brain vascular function, while we will also focused on NWT-03-induced changes on cognitive performance.
Our data indicated that daily intake of 5.7 g NWT-03 for 36 weeks did not affect overall cognitive performance in an older population consisting of adults with SCD, but evidence was provided for beneficial effects on parameters reflecting executive function in postmenopausal women as compared to men. There were no changes in the psychomotor speed or memory domains. Brain vascular function was, however, not affected.
Overall, this project further advanced our understanding of why NWT-03 is beneficial for cognitive impairment and possibly other age-related conditions. Except for its scientific relevance, results will further contribute to other important areas such as the reduction of economic/societal costs related to cognitive decline.
