Matthew K Taylor

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Kansas Medical Center

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease with growing prevalence as the global population ages. Currently available treatments for AD have minimal efficacy and there are no proven treatments for its prodrome, mild cognitive impairment (MCI). AD etiology is not well understood and various hypotheses of disease pathogenesis...

Background: Little is known about the relation between dietary intake and cerebral amyloid accumulation in aging.Objective: We assessed the association of dietary glycemic measures with cerebral amyloid burden and cognitive performance in cognitively normal older adults.Design: We performed cross-sectional analyses relating dietary glycemic measure...

Introduction We assessed the feasibility and cognitive effects of a ketogenic diet (KD) in participants with Alzheimer's disease. Methods The Ketogenic Diet Retention and Feasibility Trial featured a 3-month, medium-chain triglyceride–supplemented KD followed by a 1-month washout in clinical dementia rating (CDR) 0.5, 1, and 2 participants. We obt...

Background The ketogenic diet (KD) has gained interest as a potential therapy for numerous conditions; however, studies rarely report the food and micronutrient profile of the diet. Objective The aim of this study was to report changes in food selection and nutritional quality from the baseline diet (BD) to a KD therapy in participants with Alzhei...

Objective To describe the relationship between adherence to distinct dietary patterns and nutrition literacy. Design We identified distinct dietary patterns using principal covariates regression (PCovR) and principal components analysis (PCA) from the Diet History Questionnaire II. Nutrition literacy was assessed using the Nutrition Literacy Asses...

BACKGROUND Preclinical studies suggest that creatine monohydrate (CrM) improves cognition and Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers. However, there is currently no clinical evidence demonstrating the effects of CrM in patients with AD. METHODS In this single‐arm pilot trial, we investigated the feasibility of 20 g/day CrM for 8 weeks in 20 patients...

Objectives/Goals: The creatine (Cr) system is impaired in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Data show that creatine monohydrate (CrM) supplementation may improve AD symptoms in AD mouse models, but no human studies have been reported. Thus, we investigated whether an eight-week CrM supplementation was feasible and associated with increased brain creatine i...

Background Nutrition risk is common in Alzheimer's disease and is associated with symptoms of dementia, cognitive decline, institutionalization, and mortality. Family caregivers who increasingly manage nutrition needs of persons with dementia (PWD) experience high caregiver burden, low health literacy, and nutrition risk. Few interventions for info...

Background Diminished muscle function and strength are linked to an increased risk and accelerated progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although these are direct consequences of the disease, recent preclinical evidence suggests decreased muscle function and strength may directly influence AD risk and progression via the muscle‐brain axis. There...

Background Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a systemic metabolic disease with a variable number and type of clinical symptoms mostly impacting the brain. Skin carotenoid content (SCC) is an objective measure of carotenoid‐containing fruit and vegetable intake that has been validated in diverse populations. Our previous findings suggest SCC scores differ...

Dementia is a debilitating condition with a disproportionate impact on women. While sex differences in longevity contribute to the disparity, the role of the female sex as a biological variable in disease progression is not yet fully elucidated. Metabolic dysfunctions are drivers of dementia etiology, and cardiometabolic diseases are among the most...

Beef is an excellent source of nutrients important for maternal health and fetal development. It is also true that the Mediterranean diet is beneficial for the health of both the mother and offspring; however, the relative value of fresh beef intake within Mediterranean diet patterns during pregnancy is unknown. The objective of this project was tw...

Background and purpose The prevalence of dementia is rapidly increasing. Attempts to further understand modifiable risk factors such as diabetes mellitus (DM) are urgently needed to inform public health policies for prevention. Thus, the objective of the current study was to assess the relationship between DM and risk of dementia and non‐dementia m...

Background Impaired brain bioenergetics is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is a compelling target for AD treatment. Patients with AD exhibit dysfunction in the brain creatine (Cr) system, which is integral in maintaining bioenergetic flux. Recent studies in AD mouse models suggest Cr supplementation improves brain mitochondr...

Background Lower body mass is related to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Carriers of the APOE e4 (APOE4) allele have an increased risk of developing AD, and APOE4 status has been shown to be associated with decreased body mass and fat mass in AD. However, this relationship in cognitively normal older adults is unclear. We investigated...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, affecting approximately 6.5 million older adults in the United States. Development of AD treatment has primarily centered on developing pharmaceuticals that target amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques in the brain, a hallmark pathological biomarker that precedes symptomatic AD. Though rece...

Background Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a systemic metabolic disease with a variable number and type of clinical symptoms mostly impacting the brain. Skin carotenoid content (SCC) is an objective measure of carotenoid‐containing fruit and vegetable intake that has been validated in diverse populations. Our previous findings suggest SCC scores are im...

Amyloid‐β is a classical hallmark and risk factor for development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Observational data suggest that having higher body mass index (BMI) is associated with lower cerebral amyloid burden in cognitively normal adults. However, the influence of body composition on cerebral amyloid deposition has not been investigated. We inve...

Acculturation contributes to low diet quality and can foster health inequities for Latina women during pregnancy. Conversely, nutrition literacy (NL) increases diet quality and could promote health equity. This study assessed the associations between the diet quality, acculturation, and NL of Latina women (n = 99) participating in the Assessment of...

Background A major antioxidant, glutathione (GSH), is a key factor in the antioxidant defense mechanism against oxidative stress and aging-related functional declines. Our previous observational study showed positive correlations between brain GSH concentrations and dairy food consumption, particularly milk (p < 0.001), in older adults. Objective...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition characterized by clinical decline in memory and other cognitive functions. A classic AD neuropathological hallmark includes the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, which may precede onset of clinical symptoms by over a decade. Efforts to prevent or treat AD frequently emphasi...

Introduction: Fasting glucose increases with age and is linked to modifiable Alzheimer's disease risk factors such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: We leveraged available biospecimens and neuroimaging measures collected during the Alzheimer's Prevention Through Exercise (APEx) trial (n = 105) to examine the longitudi...

Background Brain and retinal carotenoid content have been linked to cognitive function in older adults. Although skin carotenoid is correlated with retinal content, the relationship of skin carotenoid and cognition in older adults is unknown. Measurement of skin carotenoid is non‐invasive, quick, and easy to obtain. The purpose of this study was to...

Background Research on risk factors for dementia and in preclinical populations has shown that glucose regulation may be involved in amyloid synthesis, cognitive processing, and neurodegeneration; however, the extent to its involvement is unclear. Fasting glucose is a straightforward measure that could be a window into metabolic changes either asso...

Pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy (RS) measures skin carotenoid content (SCC). Continued validation of this method is pertinent to validate its use as an objective measure of fruit and vegetable intake. This study aimed to assess relationships between SCC scores and self-reported dietary carotenoid intake from 3-day food records in communit...

Purpose: The goal of this study is to examine how avocado relates to cognitive function among older adults. Methods: A total of 2,886 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011–2014 participants aged 60 or older met the eligibility criteria and were included of our cross-sectional study. Participants were binarily classified as avocado c...

Objective: To test the hypothesis that high glycemic diet is related to 1-year change in brain amyloid based on our prior cross-sectional evidence that high glycemic diet is associated with brain amyloid. Methods: This longitudinal, observational study assessed the relationship between reported habitual consumption of a high glycemic diet (HGDiet)...

PurposeObesity and poor diet quality (DQ) are associated with increased risk of morbidity/mortality among breast cancer survivors. This study explored DQ changes during a weight loss maintenance intervention in a cohort of rural female breast cancer survivors (n = 131) who lost ≥ 5% body weight in a weight loss intervention. Previous analyses demon...

Objectives Caffeine is associated with brain health, and it is suggested to lower the risk of neurological diseases. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between caffeine intake and concentration of brain metabolites in healthy older adults. Methods Caffeine intake was determined in 60 cognitively normal, healthy older a...

Objectives Community-based intervention studies that aim at developing cooking skills have increased in the scientific literature and are related to healthier food practices. We conducted this pilot study to investigate the effect of a combined curriculum of nutrition education and hands-on cooking skills on the consumption of fruits and vegetables...

Objectives Peripheral insulin resistance (IR) and impaired glucose metabolism increase the risk for cognitive decline. However, data looking at peripheral IR's relationship with cognition in cognitively normal adults is limited. This study aimed to assess the relationship between peripheral IR and tests of executive function, attention, and process...

Objectives Carotenoids found in vegetables can be deposited in tissues following metabolism and used as antioxidants. The objective of this study was to compare skin carotenoid content (SCC) among older adults with varying conditions of metabolic-related disease (obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus). Methods This was a cross-sectio...

Objectives This randomized controlled trial was to confirm the potential benefit of adequate dairy food intake to raise brain antioxidant, glutathione (GSH), in low dairy consumers through a longitudinal dietary intervention. This confirmatory study is based on our previous findings of positive correlations between brain GSH levels and dairy food c...

Objectives Poor glycemic control (GC) is associated with poorer executive function. However, data looking at the relationship between GC and cognition is limited. This study aimed to assess the relationship between GC and various cognitive tests using electronic medical record data (EMR). Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was the main predictor variable. Met...

Background We previously reported that high glycemic diet (HGD) was related to cerebral amyloid deposits, a pathologic hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), in multiple highly metabolic regions of interest (ROI). The purpose of this study was to test high glycemic diet’s relationship with longitudinal change in cerebral amyloid deposition in older...

Background Expression of the APOE4 allele is a known genetic risk factor of Alzheimer’s Disease. There is speculation that dietary carbohydrate intake may also influence AD risk. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cross‐sectional relationship between dietary carbohydrate intake and cognitive performance stratified by APOE status in a pop...

Concussion is the most common form of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Although most patients' symptoms resolve within a month, patients with post-concussion syndrome (PCS) may continue to experience symptoms for years and have limited treatment options. This pilot study assessed the feasibility and symptom-related effects of a ketogenic diet (K...

Maternal obesity is an established risk factor for poor infant neurodevelopmental outcomes; however, the link between maternal weight and fetal development in utero is unknown. We investigated whether maternal obesity negatively influences fetal autonomic nervous system (ANS) development. Fetal heart rate variability (HRV) is an index of the ANS th...

Although the Mediterranean diet (MedD) has gained interest for potential Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevention, it is unknown how well US older adults follow a MedD. We used two National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles (2011-2014) to conduct our primary aim of reporting population estimates of MedD adherence among older adults...

Objectives This study's purpose was to investigate the correlation among three dietary intake methods: 24-hour recall, 7-day food record, and the National Cancer Institute's Dietary History Questionnaire (DHQ)-II in older adults. Methods Dietary intake was collected from 60 cognitively normal, healthy older adults aged between 60–85 years using th...

Objectives Peripheral insulin resistance (IR) and impaired glucose metabolism increases the risk for cognitive decline. However, data looking at peripheral IR's relationship with cognition in cognitively normal adults is limited. This study aimed to assess the relationship between peripheral IR and tests of speed of processing (SOP) in cognitively...

Objectives Skin Carotenoid Content (SCC) is a validated biomarker of vegetable intake. The objective of this study is to compare SCC to self-reported diet and supplement intake. Methods This cross-sectional study used baseline data from 61 participants in an ongoing intervention trial (Nutrition Interventions for Cognitive Enhancement). Participan...

Objectives To assess the effect of a high fiber diet on changes in gut microbiota and gestational weight gain. Methods Women were block randomized to a 12-week high-fiber (HF; ≥30g/day) intervention (n = 12) or usual care (n = 8). The HF group met weekly for phone counseling with a Registered Dietitian to learn ways in increase fiber intake and gi...

BACKGROUND: Metabolic changes in the brain have been proposed to lend to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) etiology. Proton Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) allows in‐vivo measurement of brain metabolites that have been implicated in brain energy metabolism. METHODS: 120 subjects 蠅65 years old (58 non‐demented, CDR 0; 50 very mild AD, CDR 0.5; and 12 m...

BACKGROUND Sleeping habits are relevant to the health of medical residents as sleep‐deprivation has been linked to increased energy intake and obesity risk. OBJECTIVE To evaluate effects of nights on call and amount of sleep time on dietary intake of anesthesiology residents. METHODS 27 anesthesiology residents were recruited to participate in th...