(LB02-25-24) Skin Carotenoids Are Related to Right Choroid Plexus Volume in School-Aged Children

Objectives: Carotenoids are anti-inflammatory pigments that deposit in human tissue upon dietary intake. Carotenoids consumed from diet accumulate in the skin proportionate to overall dietary intake. While limited data indicate associations between carotenoids and brain volume in adults, this relationship has not been studied in children. The choroid plexus (CP), responsible for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production, serves as a conduit for the migration of inflammatory cells amidst central nervous system trauma and infections. Further, previous research has established a connection between elevated CP volume and disease. Despite the anti-inflammatory properties of carotenoids, research into their correlation with CP volume remains unexplored. We aimed to address this gap by examining how skin carotenoids may relate to CP, CSF, and cortical white and grey matter volume in a school-aged sample.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were used to conduct analyses among 47 school-aged children ages 7-13 years (X̄ = 10.91 ± 2.07). Skin carotenoids were measured using reflection spectroscopy with the VEGGIE METER^TM. T1-weighted scans were acquired with a clinical whole-body Siemens 3T Prisma MRI scanner (Siemens Medical Solutions; Erlangen, Germany).

Results: Bivariate correlations revealed that skin carotenoids were negatively associated with right CP volume (r = -0.30, p = 0.04) and CSF volume (r = -0.32, p = 0.03). These relationships persisted in two-step linear regressions (adjusting for age, sex, household income, and intracranial volume) for both right CP (β = -0.34, p = 0.04) and CSF volume (β = -0.41, p = < 0.01). Skin carotenoids did not relate to cortical grey (r = 0.05, p = 0.58) or white matter volume (r = 0.05, p = 0.49).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that elevated skin carotenoids may be linked to lower CP and CSF volume during childhood, which could be suggestive of reduced inflammatory responses. As skin carotenoids did not relate to cortical grey or white matter volume, any beneficial influences of diet quality may be selective for brain regions implicated in neuroinflammation. Intervention studies are needed to confirm the prospective effects of skin carotenoids on brain volume development in adolescence.

Funding Sources: Egg Nutrition Center, UIUC DNS 50^th Award, UIUC Personalized Nutrition Initiative