Tier 3 — preclinical

Spermidine intake is associated with cortical thickness and hippocampal volume in older adults

Claudia Schwarz, Nora Horn, Gloria Benson, Isabel Wrachtrup Calzado, Katharina Wurdack, Raimund Pechlaner, Ulrike Grittner, Miranka Wirth, Agnes Flöel

NeuroImage 2020 221:117132

Bibliography

PubMed: PMID 32629145
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117132
Competing interests: Most authors reported no disclosures. Agnes Flöel disclosed consulting fees from Bayer and Biogen Idec, presentation honoraria from Novartis and Biogen Idec, and book royalties.

Study snapshot

Design	Cross-sectional dietary and structural MRI association study
Model	Older adults with subjective cognitive decline and healthy controls
Sample	137 (90 SCD, 47 healthy controls)
Intervention	No intervention; estimated dietary spermidine intake
Duration	Cross-sectional
Endpoints	Hippocampal volume; Global cortical thickness; AD-vulnerable cortical thickness; Dietary spermidine intake

What the study showed, in plain terms

Higher estimated dietary spermidine intake was associated with larger hippocampal volume and greater cortical thickness in several brain regions among 137 older adults.

Key findings

The imaging associations are supportive but observational. They contrast with later work in which higher plasma spermidine correlated with less favorable brain-aging markers, highlighting that dietary intake and circulating concentrations are not interchangeable.

What this study can and cannot tell us

Cross-sectional design, self-reported dietary assessment, potential dietary-pattern confounding and no supplementation or clinical outcome.

Editorial review

Reviewed by the Biohack Blueprint research team

Khaled Mahmoud