DIET AND CHOLESTEROL: A new disease linked to fat consumption | The latest expert advice on a high-fat diet

Habitual consumption of high-fat, high-calorie diets has a direct link to obesity and type 2 diabetes, and now a research team led by the University of Rovira e Virgili (URV) has discovered a mechanism that links eating this diet to Alzheimer’s disease. .

The study, conducted by Professor Monica Boullo of the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, the Nutrition and Metabolic Health (NuMeH) Research Group and the URV Center for Environmental, Food and Toxicology Technologies (TecnATox), focused on how this diet affects molecules found in the blood and other tissues, such as the brain, and which act as markers and regulators of disease.

The study was conducted on mice that develop Alzheimer’s disease as adults. Previous studies on these animals had already shown that after eating a diet rich in fat, they developed the disease much earlier than those who followed a traditional diet. What was unknown were the mechanisms that triggered the progression of the disease, and they have now been uncovered.

To do this, the research team analyzed the expression of 15 microRNAs (miRNAs), small RNA molecules that play critical roles in genetic regulation, in both plasma and brain tissue. Changes in insulin-related microRNAs were examined in mouse models susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease rather than on a high-fat diet, especially a saturated diet.

The results, published in the journal Nutrients, showed that after six months on the diet, their metabolism worsened, with significant weight gain and a worse response to glucose and insulin, characteristics of which are similar to obesity and the type of obesity. 2 diabetes in humans.

Moreover, changes in several microRNAs were observed in both the blood and brain. These changes have been associated with processes that can damage the brain, such as the accumulation of amyloid B plaques (clumps of protein that form in the brain and serve as markers of Alzheimer’s disease); excessive production of protein table (which, if left unchecked, can damage brain cells) and inflammation in the brain, which is also associated with this disease.

“The results obtained in this study represent progress in understanding the mechanism that could explain the relationship between obesity, type 2 diabetes and the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, they open up new targets for possible prevention and treatment of the disease,” says researcher Monica Boullo.

The study, conducted in collaboration with the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV), CIBERobn and the University of Barcelona, ​​not only provides new data on how a diet rich in fat can affect brain health, but also opens the door to the future. research on dietary strategies as a possible treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The results highlight the importance of a balanced diet for the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases and highlight the potential of miRNAs as targets for therapeutic interventions.