According to a study published in BMJ Medicine involving more than 450,000 participants, muscle mass may have a protective role against the development of Alzheimer’s disease. More specifically, the increased level of muscle mass was associated with a 12% decrease in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Also, well-developed musculature was associated with superior results in cognitive tests, while high body fat was associated with poor cognitive performance. However, the favorable results obtained from cognitive tests cannot explain what exactly ensured the protective effect of muscle mass against Alzheimer’s disease, which is why further research is needed to help understand the biological mechanisms.
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease due to several factors – stimulation of inflammation, insulin resistance, high amount of amyloid beta protein in adipose tissue, low level of muscle mass. It is not known, however, whether the low level of muscle mass precedes the diagnosis or is an observable factor post diagnosis. To this end, scientists from the University of California San Francisco analyzed the implications of certain genetic variants associated with muscle mass in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Image source: Freepik.com
“Using human genetic data, we found evidence that muscle mass may have a protective effect on the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Previous studies have tested the relationship between body mass index and Alzheimer’s disease and found no evidence of a causal effect. We thought that maybe BMI is an insufficient factor and developed the following hypothesis – compartmentalizing the body into muscle mass and adipose tissue may reveal new associations with Alzheimer’s disease” – states for Medscape Medical NewsDr. Iyas Daghlas, study author and resident in the Department of Neurology at the University of California San Francisco.
In total, 584 genetic variants related to muscle mass were discovered, but none of them were located near the APOE gene, a region associated with the risk of developing BA. The study included 450,243 UK Biobank participants who were divided as follows:
21,982 people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and 41,944 healthy people; 7,329 people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and 252,879 healthy people, sample used to validate the findings; 269,867 people who participated in a genome-wide association study assessing cognitive performance.
To estimate the amounts of muscle mass and adipose tissue in the arms and legs of the participants, bioimpedance (the passage of an electric current through the body at different speeds depending on the tissues it passes through) was used. In terms of cognitive performance, higher results were observed in the case of participants with developed muscle mass and poorer results in the case of those with a high level of adipose tissue.
The authors of the study emphasize the need for further, independent studies to observe and understand the biological mechanisms behind the protective effect of muscle mass in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, to determine the maximum age and stage of pathology at which muscle mass interventions can still influence the evolution of the disease.
Read also:
2023-07-11 14:41:53
#STUDY #risk #Alzheimers #disease #people #welldeveloped #muscle #mass #Watch #report
