Neuroscience Research Techniques Excess body fat, especially in the abdomen, has been linked to dementia and memory loss in older age. A new study by scientists at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago has found that the same gene that controls fat metabolism in the liver is also expressed in the hippocampus. Previous research had identified a gene known as Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) that is involved in fat metabolism (pictured: scanning electron micrograph of fat cells) and is highly expressed in the liver, where much of the body’s fat metabolism takes place. In work published in the journal Cell Reports, the researchers found that PPARalpha is also highly expressed in the hippocampus, which helps control learning and memory. Mice lacking PPARalpha in their hippocampi had problems with these functions. Mice that had PPARalpha in their hippocampi but not their livers did not show memory problems. The researchers believe that excessive abdominal fat causes depletion of PPARalpha first in the liver, and then it spreads to the hippocampus, causing dementia. Read more: bit.ly/193nBEc Journal article: Regulation of Cyclic AMP Response Element Binding and Hippocampal Plasticity-Related Genes by Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor α. Cell Reports, 2013. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2013.07.028 Image credit: Wellcome Images
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:40:27 +0000
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