- Popa, Emily;
- Kress, Gavin;
- Rapozo, Molly;
- Hodes, John;
- Ganapathi, Aarthi;
- Slyapich, Colby;
- Glatt, Ryan;
- Pierce, Kyron;
- Porter, Verna;
- Wong, Claudia;
- Kim, Mihae;
- Dye, Richelin;
- Panos, Stella;
- Bookheimer, Tess;
- Togashi, Tori;
- Loong, Spencer;
- Raji, Cyrus;
- Bramen, Jennifer;
- Roach, Jared;
- Merrill, David;
- Bookheimer, Susan;
- Siddarth, Prabha
BACKGROUND: A carbohydrate-restricted diet aimed at lowering insulin levels has the potential to slow Alzheimers disease (AD). Restricting carbohydrate consumption reduces insulin resistance, which could improve glucose uptake and neural health. A hallmark feature of AD is widespread cortical thinning; however, no study has demonstrated that lower net carbohydrate (nCHO) intake is linked to attenuated cortical atrophy in patients with AD and confirmed amyloidosis. OBJECTIVE: We tested the hypothesis that individuals with AD and confirmed amyloid burden eating a carbohydrate-restricted diet have thicker cortex than those eating a moderate-to-high carbohydrate diet. METHODS: A total of 31 patients (mean age 71.4±7.0 years) with AD and confirmed amyloid burden were divided into two groups based on a 130 g/day nCHO cutoff. Cortical thickness was estimated from T1-weighted MRI using FreeSurfer. Cortical surface analyses were corrected for multiple comparisons using cluster-wise probability. We assessed group differences using a two-tailed two-independent sample t-test. Linear regression analyses using nCHO as a continuous variable, accounting for confounders, were also conducted. RESULTS: The lower nCHO group had significantly thicker cortex within somatomotor and visual networks. Linear regression analysis revealed that lower nCHO intake levels had a significant association with cortical thickness within the frontoparietal, cingulo-opercular, and visual networks. CONCLUSIONS: Restricting carbohydrates may be associated with reduced atrophy in patients with AD. Lowering nCHO to under 130 g/day would allow patients to follow the well-validated MIND diet while benefiting from lower insulin levels.