Obesity accelerates the rise of blood biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease at a much faster rate than previously thought, according to the results of a new study from Washington University.
The study, the first to examine how obesity impacts blood biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, found an association between obesity and a faster increase of 29 to95% in tau protein, one of the Alzheimer's markers.
Neurodegeneration
Long-term imaging and plasma data showed that individuals with obesity experience much faster increases in proteins associated with neurodegeneration and amyloid accumulation.
According to "Science Daily", to explore this relationship, researchers used data from a 5-year span involving 407 volunteers from the Alzheimer’s imaging initiative, who provided positron emission tomography images for detecting amyloid, in addition to blood samples.
Over the years, both the blood plasma concentration measures of tau protein 217 and the positron emission tomography scans of the brain showed greater accumulation of symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease in participants with obesity compared to those without it.
Alzheimer's indicators
Obesity was also associated with a faster rise of 24% in the level of NfL protein in plasma, and a faster increase of 3.7% in amyloid protein accumulation.
Dr. Sohail Mohamadi, the lead researcher, indicated that the increased blood volume in individuals with obesity is a contributing factor to the higher rate of proteins associated with Alzheimer's.
He added: "The way obesity affects the development of amyloid burden and the accompanying changes in blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease has significant implications for how doctors assess and manage risks".
