Obesity as a trigger of neurodegenerative diseases?

RNDr. Jan Fröhlich, Ph.D. and Dr. Manlio Vinciguerra of the Epigenetics, Metabolism and Aging FNUSA-ICRC Research team, in collaboration with a research institute at the Medical University in Varna, published a successful review summarizing current knowledge on the effect of adipomyokines / metabotrophic factors on the development and progression of cardiometabolic (CMD) and neurodegenerative diseases. The work was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

“Over the last 30 years, there has been a significant change in the view of adipose tissue, which is now understood as an important regulator of metabolism and one of the main endocrine organs of the human body,” says Dr. Jan Fröhlich with the fact that adiopobiology has thus become an important scientific field, dealing, among other things, with the study of the origin and consequences of obesity. It plays an important role in the pathophysiology of cardiometabolic and neurometabolic diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

“According to the latest findings, one of the main risk factors for the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease is obesity and the associated hypertension, high LDL cholesterol and diabetes. On the contrary, numerous studies in mouse models and volunteers have shown that starvation-induced diets or short-term exercise have a beneficial effect and slow the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, including AD, ”explains Dr. Jan Fröhlich.

It has been shown that mediators of positive effects are factors / hormones secreted from skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, so-called adipomyokines. Adipomyokines are a heterogeneous group of metabolites and proteins that have a direct effect on metabolism and are therefore also nicknamed metabotrophic factors. “In our work, we point out that therapies based on the modulation of metabolism through the administration of metabotrophic factors could in the future help patients suffering from serious cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases,” points out Dr. Jan Fröhlich.

The full article is available HERE.