Poor diet may fuel Alzheimer's in people who carry disease-related gene

PoordietmayfuelAlzheimer'sinpeoplewho
carrydiseaserelatedgene
June13,2017

Adiethighincholesterol,fatandsugarmayinfluencethedevelopmentof
Alzheimer'sdiseaseinpeoplewhocarrytheApoE4gene,aleadingriskfactor
forthememoryerasingdisease,indicatesanewUSCstudy.

Thestudyonmice,publishedJune12inthejournaleNeuro,isthelatestto
exploretheassociationbetweenobesityandAlzheimer'sdisease,bothofwhich
areassociatedwithinflammationandbothofwhichaffectmillionsofpeople.

Forthestudy,researchersattheUSCDavisSchoolofGerontologycompared
theeffectsofapoordietongroupsofmicethateitherhadtheAlzheimer's
associatedApoE4geneortherelativelybenignvariantofthegene,ApoE3.
Aftereatinganunhealthydiet,themicewiththeApoE4geneshowedmore
Alzheimer'splaquesamarkerforinflammationintheirbrains,butthose
withApoE3didnot.

"Partofwhattheresultsaresayingisthatriskdoesn'taffecteverybodythe
same,andthat'strueformostriskfactors,"saidChristianPike,thelead
authorofthestudyandaprofessorfortheUSCDavisSchoolofGerontology.
"Yourgeneshaveabigroleinwhathappenstoyou,butsodoesyour
environmentandyourmodifiablelifestylefactors.Howmuchyouexercise
becomesimportantandwhatyoueatbecomesimportant."

Alzheimer'sandobesityareamongtheintractableproblemsthatUSC
researchersinmultipledisciplinesareseekingtounravel.

Botharewidespreadandcostly.Anestimated5.4millionAmericanshave
Alzheimer's,whichcostsanestimated$286billionayear.TheUSCSchaeffer
CenterforHealthPolicyandEconomicspredictsthenumberofU.S.patients
diagnosedwithAlzheimer'swillmorethandoubleto9.1millioninthenext35
years.Bythen,totalcarecostswilltop$1.5trillion.

Anestimated72millionAmericanadultsareobeserepresentingabout30
percentofthenation'sadultpopulation,accordingtotheCentersforDisease
ControlandPrevention.AnnualhealthcarecostsforobesityintheUnited
P
Saved from URL: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20170613/Poor-diet-may-fuel-Alzheimers-disease-in-people-who-carry-disea
se-related-gene.aspx 1
/3
Poor diet may fuel Alzheimer's in people who carry disease-related gene

ControlandPrevention.AnnualhealthcarecostsforobesityintheUnited
Statesrangebetween$147billionto$210billion.

Asaresearchinstitutiondevotedtopromotinglifelonghealth,USChasmore
than70researchersacrossarangeofdisciplineswhoareexaminingthe
health,societalandpoliticaleffectsandimplicationsofthedisease.Inthepast
decade,theNationalInstituteonAginghasnearlydoubleditsinvestmentin
USCresearch.TheinvestmentsincludeanAlzheimerDiseaseResearchCenter.

ApoE4andApoE3aretwovariantsofagenethatcodesforaprotein,
apolipoproteinE,whichbindsfatsandcholesteroltotransportthemtothe
body'slymphaticandcirculatorysystemsandtothebrain.TheApoE4variant
islinkedtoincreasedinflammation,Alzheimer'sandcardiovasculardisease.

ApoE3,whichdoesnotincreaseriskforthedisease,ismuchmorecommon
variant,appearinginanestimated70to75percentofthepopulation.ApoE4
appearsinaround10to15percentofthepopulation.

SciencehasshownthatAlzheimer'saffectsmorewomenthanmen.Havingone
copyofApoE4quadrupleswomen'sriskfordevelopingthedisease.Buthaving
twocopiesofApoE4isanissueformenandwomen,raisingtheirriskforthe
diseasebyafactorof10.

Still,somepeoplewithApoE3andApoE4neverdevelopAlzheimer's.Knowing
this,Pikewantedtoexplorewhetherobesityanddiet,inthepresenceofeither
gene,wouldaffectthedisease'sdevelopment.

For12weeks,agroupofmicewithApoE4wereplacedonacontroldietthat
was10percentfatand7percentsucrose,whileanothergroupofmicewith
ApoE4ateaWesterndietthatwasof45percentfatand17percentsucrose.A
similartestwasrunonmicewithApoE3.

Ontheunhealthydiet,boththemicewithApoE4andthosewithApoE3gained
weightandbecameprediabetic.Butmostsignificantly,thosewithApoE4on
theunhealthydietquicklydevelopedthesignatureplaquesthatobstruct
cognitionandmemory.

However,Alzheimer'ssymptomsdidnotworsenfortheApoE3micethatatea
Westerndiet.

P
Saved from URL: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20170613/Poor-diet-may-fuel-Alzheimers-disease-in-people-who-carry-disea
se-related-gene.aspx 2
/3
Poor diet may fuel Alzheimer's in people who carry disease-related gene

"Whathappenstoyouinlifeisacombinationofthegenesthatyouhave,the
environmentandbehaviors,suchasdiet,"Pikesaid."Ourthinkingisthatthe
riskofAlzheimer'sassociatedwithobesityisgoingtoberegulatedtosome
degreebythegenesthatwehave."

Theresultsinthemiceindicatearelationshipbetweendietandthegrowthof
plaquesandothersignsofbraininflammationformicewithApoE4.

Pikesaidfurtherstudyisneededtounderstandtherelationshipbetweenthe
two.Researchalreadyhasshownthatevenabriefspateofpoordietcan
inflameglia,thebraincellsresponsibleforimmunityresponse.

"Thatmeansthereareprobablycomponentsdirectlyinthediet,andoneof
thosearefattyacids,likepalmiticacid,thattriggerinflammationbecausethey
cangoinanddirectlyaffectglia,"Pikesaid."Butthatmaybejustone
inflammationrelatedcomponentofAlzheimer'sdisease."

"There'sprobablyavarietyofdifferentsignalsthataffectthebrain,"headded.
"Peopleevensuggestthatsignalscomingfromthegutthemicrobiomeare
influential."

PikenotedthatwomenandmenwithriskfactorsforAlzheimer'smayalso
responddifferentlytotheeffectsofdietanissueworthfurtherexploration,
hesaid.

Source:
https://pressroom.usc.edu/poordietplusalzheimersgenemayfueldisease/

P
Saved from URL: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20170613/Poor-diet-may-fuel-Alzheimers-disease-in-people-who-carry-disea
se-related-gene.aspx 3
/3