A recent study has found that a diet high in saturated fats could increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.
The research, published in Nutrients, demonstrated that molecular changes related to Alzheimer’s disease were identified in rats fed a high-fat diet.
Dementia is a degenerative brain disease known to cause a decline in brain function with aging. Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common types of dementia, and its causes and mechanisms of onset are not yet fully understood.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are approximately 55 million dementia patients worldwide, with about 70% suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. With the global aging population, the number of dementia patients is rapidly increasing. The experts predict that 2050 the number will reach approximately 150 million. This increase is not only due to aging but also to unhealthy lifestyle habits such as lack of exercise, consumption of instant food, smoking, drinking, etc.
The researchers compared APP/PS1 transgenic rats, which exhibit characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease, such as an increase in beta-amyloid and cognitive impairment, with wild-type rats as a control group.
The researchers randomized 21-day-old mice into two groups: one group was fed a regular diet, and the other was fed a 60% high-fat diet for six months. The researchers monitored the rats’ food intake and regularly measured their weight. They also collected data on glucose levels and insulin resistance.
The results showed that the rats in the high-fat diet group gained more weight and exhibited worse glucose and insulin resistance than those in the regular diet group. After euthanizing the rats using the Animal Protection of ethical standards, the researchers extracted and analyzed RNA from serum, cortex, and hippocampus.
The researchers noted that the changes were metabolic and at the mRNA level. Changes may be related to processes causing brain damage, such as beta-amyloid accumulation, excessive tau protein production, and brain inflammatory responses.
However, the researchers added that further studies are needed to determine whether these results from the rat model can be applied to humans.
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