More Leptin May Mean Less Alzheimer's

Dec. 15, 2009 -- High levels of the energy-regulating hormone leptin were
associated with lower rates of Alzheimer's disease in a study appearing in
TheJournal of the American Medical Association.
If confirmed, researchers say the findings could have important implications
in the search for effective therapies to prevent and treat the disease.
Discovered in the mid-1990s, leptin is produced by fat cells and is believed
to be critical for regulating hunger and weight. But there is growing evidence
suggesting a role for the hormone in brain development and memory.
Leptin has been shown to reduce concentrations of B-amyloid, the major
component of the deposits, or plaques, that occur in the brains of people with
Alzheimer's disease.
In the new study, elderly people were followed for up to 15 years after
blood leptin concentrations were measured.
Over 12 years of follow-up, people with the lowest leptin levels were
roughly four times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than people with
the highest levels.
"Our study raises a strong possibility that leptin may actually have a role
in the various pathological processes that result in clinical Alzheimer's
disease," senior researcher Sudha Seshadri, MD, of Boston University School of
Medicine, tells WebMD.
Measuring Leptin Levels
The study initially included 785 elderly people taking part in the ongoing
Framingham Heart Study, which began recruiting patients in 1948.
Blood leptin levels were measured between 1990 and 1994. Around eight years
later, 198 of the participants who had not developed dementia underwent brain
imaging with MRIs to assess brain aging.
Those with the highest leptin levels at the beginning of the study had
healthier brains with less evidence of aging.
During an average follow-up of eight years, 89 study participants developed
Alzheimer's disease and 22 developed other dementias.
Higher early leptin concentrations were associated with lower rates of
dementia years later. This association was seen even after they adjusted for
the impact of midlife abdominal obesity, or belly fat, which has recently been
identified as an early risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.
"If our findings are confirmed by others, leptin levels in older adults may
serve as one of several possible biomarkers for healthy brain aging and, more
importantly, may open new pathways for possible preventive and therapeutic
interventions," the researchers write.
Leptin Replacement Therapy
Treatment with leptin has been shown in recent animal studies to improve
memory performance even after the onset of Alzheimer's-like dementia.
But Seshadri says it remains to be seen if leptin replacement therapy would
benefit humans with Alzheimer's disease or help protect against the
disease.
The National Institutes of Health recently awarded close to $3 million for a
small pilot study of leptin replacement therapy in patients with Alzheimer's
disease.
J. Wesson Ashford, MD, PhD, who is the principal investigator, says about 45
patients will be recruited for the study. A major goal will be to determine if
leptin treatment reduces concentrations of a protein called tau that is
elevated in the spinal fluid of Alzheimer's patients.
http://www .webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20091215/more-leptin-may-mean-less-alzheimers?src=RSS_PUBLIC