New research from Boston University School of Medicine was conducted because there has been some data relating body weight to the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Looking at animal studies, scientists found some data to indicate that leptin not only produces a feeling of satiety but also has a beneficial effect on the hippocampus. They noted that it was important to see if that was true in humans.
The hippocampus is a portion of the brain that plays a role in important aspects of memory.
Some human studies have shown that people with Alzheimer’s disease have lower levels of leptin, but those studies didn’t show which came first, the lower leptin levels or the decline in mental function.
Leptin levels had been measured in 785 study participants in the early 1990s. For the new study, 198 of them had MRI scans that measured brain volume an average of 7.7 years after leptin was measured. The study authors also kept track of new Alzheimer’s diagnoses among the study participants.
The researchers found that higher leptin levels were associated with a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s and all other forms of dementia. The 25 percent of participants with the lowest leptin levels had a 25 percent risk of developing Alzheimer’s over a 12-year period; the incidence was only 6 percent for those with the highest leptin levels. And lower leptin levels were associated with a greater decrease in total brain size.
Another report issued today described disappointing results in a trial of a once-promising drug to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The drug, tarenflurbil, was designed to reduce production of amyloid, a protein that forms plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. The study of 1,684 people who began taking the drug in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease showed no benefit, the report said.
Study findings posted by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.
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