How liver health impacts the risk of Alzheimer's
26 July, 2018
While we still do not know exactly what causes the development of Alzheimer's disease, specialists have been hard at work trying to identify the most salient risk factors. New research has now identified a new player when it comes to Alzheimer's risk: the liver.
This week, at the yearly Alzheimer's Association International Conference — held in Chicago, IL — researchers led by Dr. Mitchel A. Kling, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, have presented the intriguing findings of their latest study.
They observed that Alzheimer's disease risk is associated with reduced levels of plasmalogens, a type of phospholipid produced in the liver. They play key roles in maintaining the health of brain cells.
From the liver, plasmalogens are carried to the brain and other organs through the blood. Levels of these phospholipids can be measured through specialized tests that have been devised by Dr. Kling in collaboration with colleagues from the Alzheimer's Disease Metabolomics Consortium at Duke University in Durham, NC.
The researchers identified three indices — assessing the ratios of different plasmalogens to each other, the ratios of plasmalogens to other lipids, and a combination of these measurements — that allow them to determine the amount of plasmalogen as it relates to cognitive functioning.
Specifically, they were interested in confirming whether decreased plasmalogen levels were linked with an increased risk of developing various degrees of cognitive impairment, including: Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or significant memory concerns (SMC).