A growing body of research suggests that Alzheimer's disease may be influenced by biological changes occurring far beyond the brain. New findings now point to metabolic health, especially obesity, as a possible contributor to processes that worsen the disease.
The study, led by Houston Methodist researchers, examined how changes in body fat associated with obesity may send damaging signals to the brain. These signals appear to interfere with the brain's immune system and contribute to the biological damage linked to Alzheimer's disease.
The research was co-led by Stephen Wong, Ph.D., the John S. Dunn Presidential Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering, and Li Yang, Ph.D., a research associate in the Chao Center for BRAIN at Houston Methodist. The findings were published in Molecular Neurodegeneration.
Fat Molecules May Connect Obesity and Alzheimer's
The researchers identified phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs) as a potentially important link between obesity and Alzheimer's disease. PEs are a class of lipid, or fat molecule, found in cell membranes throughout the body.
