According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health at least 147,000 Angelenos are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, 225,000 baby boomers living in LA County today are expected to develop the condition during their remaining lifetime. Research is ongoing throughout the US in facilities such as Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center and the Mayo clinic. The latest finding to surface regarding Alzheimer’s disease is that the presence of a certain type of fat known as ceramides in the blood stream points to an increased risk for the disease. Researchers affiliated with the May Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, Maryland), and Columbia University (New York, NY) published their findings online on July 18 in the journal Neurology.
The authors noted that previous studies have shown that high serum ceramides are associated with memory impairment and hippocampal volume loss; however, they did not examine dementia as an outcome. (The hippocampus is a major component of the human brain. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation.) The researchers designed a study to examine whether serum ceramides and sphingomyelins were associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease.
The study group was comprised of 99 women without dementia aged 70–79. Baseline serum sphingomyelins and ceramides were measured; the participants were then enrolled in a prospective study and followed for up to six visits over a period of nine years. Baseline lipids were examined in relation to all-cause dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
The investigators found that 27 (27.3%) of the 99 women developed dementia. Of these women, 18 (66.7%) were diagnosed with probable Alzheimer’s disease. Higher baseline serum ceramides, but not SM, were associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease; these relationships were stronger than with all-cause dementia. Compared to the lowest 33%, the middle and highest 33% of ceramide d18:1–C16:0 were associated with a 10-fold and 7.6-fold increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, respectively. The highest 33% of ceramide d18:1–C24:0 and lactosylceramide were also associated with risk of AD. Total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides were not associated with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
The authors concluded that the results from their preliminary study suggest that particular types of serum ceramides are associated with Alzheimer’s disease and warrant continued examination in larger studies.
Take home message:
Although this study was not focused on treatment, the relationship of ceramides to Alzheimer’s disease may lead to the development of medications that can reduce their levels; thus, reducing the impact of Alzheimer’s disease.
Credit : Dr. Hrishikesh D Pai (IVF Specialist- 32 Years of Experience)
