Top line:
In middle-aged men who are at high risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), increased pancreatic fat is associated with decreased cognition and brain volume.
methodology:
- Obesity is a well-known risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, but body fat distribution can influence risk and the mechanisms underlying the fat-brain-cognitive pathway.
- This study examined the association between several abdominal fat deposits and cognitive function and Alzheimer's disease-related brain volume.
- The study sample included 204 men and women (mean age 59 years, 60% female) at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease due to parental family history, enrolled in the Israeli Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Registry.
- Abdominal MRI scans detect fat stored as subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) beneath the skin, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) around abdominal organs, and ectopic (lipid deposits in lean tissues such as the liver and pancreas). Accumulating harmful conditions) were evaluated.
- Structural volumetric brain MRI scans were performed by 142 participants to assess specific regions related to selected previous studies.
remove:
- High BMI was associated with higher pancreatic fat percentage in both men and women (P < .001), and higher SAT percentages for women (P = .01) However, it does not include the value-added tax rate for both men and women.
- After adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors, we found that higher pancreatic fat percentage was associated with poorer global cognition (β, −0.33; P = .02) and execution function (β, −0.32; P in men = .02) and in women, hippocampal volume is lower (β, -0.25; P = .03).
- In males only, higher SAT percentage was associated with lower middle frontal gyrus volume (β, −0.27; P = .03), higher VAT percentage was associated with higher middle frontal gyrus (β, 0.29; P = .03) and superior frontal gyrus volume (β, 0.31; P = .02).
- Liver fat was not associated with brain volume or cognitive performance in either men or women.
in fact:
“These results suggest that abdominal fat accumulation, already in midlife, may have a negative impact on brain health, especially in men,” the authors write.
sauce:
The study was led by Sapir G. Shechtman of Tel Aviv University School of Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, and was published online. obesity (silver spring).
Limitations:
Due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, causal inferences could not be made. This does not represent the entire population of middle-aged adults, but rather those at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Factors that contribute to fat storage, such as menopausal status and treatments, inflammation, insulin resistance, daily exercise, and dietary factors, were not included in this study.
Disclosure:
This research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interest.
