Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
194,230 studies31 sourcesUpdated 57 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Nutrients

Nutritional Exposures and Cognitive Impairment in Alcohol Use Disorder: A Structured Narrative Review of Prioritized Human Evidence

  • Gabriela Elena Strete1
  • Alexandru Mischie2
  • Lorena Mihaela Grebenisan1
  • Diana Marian3
  • Corina Carmen Radu4
  • Daniela Lucia Muntean5
  • Anca Meda Vasiesiu6
  • Alexandru Andrei Ujlaki-Nagi1
  • Dora-Mihaela Cîmpian7
  • Lorand Ferencz8
  • Ramona Amina Popovici9
9 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Psychiatry, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, 540142 Targu Mures, Romania
  2. 2Doctoral School, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania
  3. 3Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, ‘Vasile Goldiș’ Western University of Arad, 94–96 Revoluției Blvd., 310025 Arad, Romania
  4. 4Department of Forensic Medicine, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, 38 Gheorghe Marinescu Street, 540139 Targu Mures, Romania
  5. 5Department of Analytical Chemistry, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, 540142 Targu Mures, Romania
  6. 6Department of Infectious Disease, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Gheorghe Marinescu Street No. 38, 540136 Targu Mures, Romania
  7. 7Department of Bioethics, Deonthology and Medical Communication, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, 540139 Targu Mures, Romania
  8. 8Department of Hygiene, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, 540142 Targu Mures, Romania
  9. 9Department Iof-Management and Communication in Dental Medicine, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania
Open at sourceDOICite

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Cognitive impairment in alcohol use disorder (AUD) may reflect alcohol exposure, withdrawal, nutritional disruption, systemic illness, and social vulnerability. We evaluated prioritized human-adult evidence linking nutritional exposures with objective cognition and examined separately whether AUD severity modifies nutrition–cognition associations and whether nutritional disruption mediates the relationship between alcohol exposure and cognitive outcomes. Methods: This structured narrative review used documented multi-database retrieval, pre-access prioritization, full-text adjudication, evidence appraisal, and qualitative sensitivity scenarios. A targeted vitamin B12 update supplemented the baseline corpus. Results: Thiamine had the broadest and most clinically actionable evidence, but biomarker thresholds, optimal cognitive dosing, and independent treatment effects remained uncertain. Evidence for folate, vitamin B12, niacin outside pellagra, other micronutrients, diet, body mass index, and albumin was sparse, mixed, or nonspecific. The targeted B12 evidence was null or contradictory rather than supportive. Cognitive improvement during detoxification could not be separated from abstinence and bundled care. No included study verified causal mediation by nutrition or a formal nutrition-by-severity interaction. Conclusions: Nutritional assessment and prompt treatment of recognized deficiency remain clinically important, but the prioritized retrieved corpus does not justify nutrient-specific causal claims for typical AUD-related cognitive impairment. Longitudinal studies should align repeated nutrition, alcohol exposure, cognition, and function and prespecify interaction and mediation tests.

Related

  1. Structured exercise, cognitive–social engagement, and cognitive impairment‐free life expectancy across four longitudinal aging cohorts
    Xiangwei Li, Ying Liu, Junyu Sun +8
    Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's AssociationPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textGeneral medicineEurope PMC
  2. Dietary Patterns and Nutritional Interventions for Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Narrative Review
    Amaal Aldakheel, Najeeb Qadi
    NutrientsPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textNeurologyCrossrefEurope PMC
  3. Association between the prognostic nutritional index and cognitive impairment in patients with heart failure: a cross-sectional study
    Chengyang Li, Yingxuan Gao, Qi Niu +4
    Frontiers in NutritionPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textOncologyDOAJ
  4. Should I drink water or wine? Impacts of online nutritional counseling on the alcohol consumption of elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment
    Julia-Sophia Scheuermann, Elmar Graessel, Petra Scheerbaum +4
    BMC Public HealthPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textPsychiatry & mental healthCrossref
  5. Occupational neurotoxicant exposures, cognitive reserve, and brain aging: a scoping review
    Noah Leton, Sudel Bayley
    Frontiers in public healthPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textEpidemiology & public healthEurope PMC

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{strete2026nutritional,
  title = {{Nutritional Exposures and Cognitive Impairment in Alcohol Use Disorder: A Structured Narrative Review of Prioritized Human Evidence}},
  author = {Gabriela Elena Strete and Alexandru Mischie and Lorena Mihaela Grebenisan and Diana Marian and Corina Carmen Radu and Daniela Lucia Muntean and Anca Meda Vasiesiu and Alexandru Andrei Ujlaki-Nagi and Dora-Mihaela Cîmpian and Lorand Ferencz and Ramona Amina Popovici},
  journal = {Nutrients},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3390/nu18213546},
  url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3546},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Nutritional Exposures and Cognitive Impairment in Alcohol Use Disorder: A Structured Narrative Review of Prioritized Human Evidence
AU  - Gabriela Elena Strete
AU  - Alexandru Mischie
AU  - Lorena Mihaela Grebenisan
AU  - Diana Marian
AU  - Corina Carmen Radu
AU  - Daniela Lucia Muntean
AU  - Anca Meda Vasiesiu
AU  - Alexandru Andrei Ujlaki-Nagi
AU  - Dora-Mihaela Cîmpian
AU  - Lorand Ferencz
AU  - Ramona Amina Popovici
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/27
JO  - Nutrients
DO  - 10.3390/nu18213546
UR  - https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3546
AB  - Background/Objectives: Cognitive impairment in alcohol use disorder (AUD) may reflect alcohol exposure, withdrawal, nutritional disruption, systemic illness, and social vulnerability. We evaluated prioritized human-adult evidence linking nutritional exposures with objective cognition and examined separately whether AUD severity modifies nutrition–cognition associations and whether nutritional disruption mediates the relationship between alcohol exposure and cognitive outcomes. Methods: This structured narrative review used documented multi-database retrieval, pre-access prioritization, full-text adjudication, evidence appraisal, and qualitative sensitivity scenarios. A targeted vitamin B12 update supplemented the baseline corpus. Results: Thiamine had the broadest and most clinically actionable evidence, but biomarker thresholds, optimal cognitive dosing, and independent treatment effects remained uncertain. Evidence for folate, vitamin B12, niacin outside pellagra, other micronutrients, diet, body mass index, and albumin was sparse, mixed, or nonspecific. The targeted B12 evidence was null or contradictory rather than supportive. Cognitive improvement during detoxification could not be separated from abstinence and bundled care. No included study verified causal mediation by nutrition or a formal nutrition-by-severity interaction. Conclusions: Nutritional assessment and prompt treatment of recognized deficiency remain clinically important, but the prioritized retrieved corpus does not justify nutrient-specific causal claims for typical AUD-related cognitive impairment. Longitudinal studies should align repeated nutrition, alcohol exposure, cognition, and function and prespecify interaction and mediation tests.
SN  - 2072-6643
ER  -