Researchers have identified that a specific type of body fat is linked to abnormal brain proteins characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, up to 20 years before the first symptoms appear. The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
The research team, led by the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, focused on the relationship between modifiable lifestyle factors—such as obesity and body fat distribution—and Alzheimer’s pathology. The study included 80 cognitively healthy middle-aged participants (average age 49.4 years), of whom approximately 57.5% were obese. Researchers examined the association between body mass index (BMI), visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, liver fat, thigh and muscle fat, HDL (good cholesterol), insulin resistance, and the deposition of amyloid and tau proteins in the brain—hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.
The findings revealed that higher levels of visceral fat were associated with increased amyloid deposition, whereas other fat types showed no correlation with increased Alzheimer’s pathology. Additionally, higher insulin resistance and lower HDL levels were linked to elevated amyloid levels in the brain. Among individuals with higher HDL levels, the effects of visceral fat on amyloid pathology were partially mitigated.
In a second study presented by the research team at the same conference, it was found that obesity and visceral fat reduce blood flow to the brain.
The researchers emphasised that lifestyle changes targeting fat reduction could influence the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
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Source: ANA-MPA
