Leptin’s Relationship to Alzheimer’s Disease
Posted on Tue, Apr 06, 2010 @ 11:17 AM
A recent article in Neurology Today drew a link between low levels of the brain neurotransmitter, leptin, and a higher risk of Alzheimer's dementia. The full article can be read at the link above but in this post I will highlight some key points made and then provide some take-aways for those concerned with Alzheimer's and other memory issues.
The Study included 785 People with Dementia
- The hormone leptin is thought of as the signal which tells your brain that you are "full" towards the end of a meal. This has obvious potential implications in the study and treatment of obesity.
- Recently, leptin has also been found to play an important role in memory formation and retrieval.
- Subjects with the lowest levels of leptin were more likely to have dementia.
- No measurment was taken of whether leptin levels changed as dementia symptoms progressed, or whether they were low to start with.
- Leptin triggers the receptors that form new brain synapses, and in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, leptin stops the build-up of the possibly damaging amyloid beta protein.
The article mentions that it is currently impossible to know a cause and effect relationship; whether lower leptin levels could cause dementia or if dementia itself is triggering decreased leptin. There is an NIH study underway with 45 mild Alzheimer's patients who are receiving leptin over a 12-week period.
My thoughts on this article, as a neurologist that treats
Alzheimer's and other dementias everyday at our Memory Loss Center:
1. This is very interesting research.
2. Along with insulin abnormalities, leptin represents one of the frontiers in the study of Alzheimer's disease.
3. Q: Should you start taking leptin now to prevent Alzheimers? A: No. Although this article may leave the impression that leptin will help - there is no scientific evidence at this time that would lead me to believe taking leptin for the prevention of Alzheimer's is warranted.
-by Dana Winegarner, DO