Cheap, easily available and highly processed food that we consume too much is harmful to us. An interesting new study on laboratory mice supported the hypothesis that diets high in fat and sugar lead to cognitive decline and cause diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
“Obesity and diabetes affect the central nervous system, exacerbating psychiatric disorders and cognitive decline. We demonstrated this in our study with mice, ”says neurologist and biochemist at the University of South Australia, Larisa Bobrovskaya.
The team was looking for a model mouse to tell us more about the intersection between Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
“It is well known that chronic obesity and type 2 diabetes are often associated with the disease. Alzheimeralong with many other comorbidities, including cardiovascular disease and kidney dysfunction “, writes the team in their new work.
“Furthermore, obesity and type 2 diabetes are increasingly linked to impaired central nervous system function, exacerbating mental and cognitive disorders, including mood disorders, cognitive decline and dementia.”
Obese, more anxious mice
To find out more, the team analyzed adult mice with a human protein mutation (P301L), called pR5 mice, along with control mice.
In humans, the mutation has been associated with dysfunctions that directly cause the type of nerve degeneration associated with Alzheimer’s. Similarly, in mice, genes provide researchers with a way to accurately identify the mechanisms that link dementia to other conditions, such as diabetes.
The two groups were fed either a regular diet or a high-fat diet for 30 weeks. Given that laboratory mice live about 1.5 years, this is a pretty big part of their lives.
Control mice fed a high-fat, high-fat diet had an increased risk of similar behaviors. anxiety.
For those mice with the pR5 mutation fed a high-fat diet, there were a lot more problems. They were even more vulnerable to obesity, developed glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, and had more behaviors similar to depression and anxiety.
“The possible consequence of pathological changes induced by a high-fat diet is, ultimately, a worsening of cognitive deficits in these mice.”
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