Previous studies have shown a link between a decline in intelligence and diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

A new work of scientists from the College of Medicine of Georgia and the Regency University of Georgia demonstrated that regular exercise or surgical removal of fat on the stomach can restore intelligence to mice with a similar problem.

The results of the study were published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

According to the team of scientists, including Dr. Alexis Stranahan, it has already been proven that obesity and diabetes triple the risk of moderate cognitive impairment and increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease. To learn more about the effect of obesity and inflammation on the hippocampus and other parts of the brain, scientists conducted a series of their own experiments on rodents.

Obesity increases the level of inflammatory cytokines.

The studied mice had one gene broken, which made them prone to obesity and diabetes. The researchers found that these rodents in the blood significantly increased the level of cytokines - small proteins that attack various pathogens and are triggers of the immune response of the body.

Scientists suggest that cytokines "see" an external pathogen in excess adipose tissue, initiating an immune response to it. Dr. Stranahan explains: "These obese mice have a very high level of cytokines, and I think this is because their body reacts to fat as a hostile agent penetrating the tissues where it should not be".

Once the body gets rid of pathogens, the level of cytokines should fall. But the researchers found that in obese and diabetic mice, fat is perceived as a "chronic pathogen," so levels of interleukin-1 beta and other inflammatory markers remained high.

The researchers explained that interleukin-1 beta in the brain causes a special reaction, which leads to "devouring" the immune cells of neuronal synapses. These synapses are extremely important for the connection between brain cells.

Synapse functions can be restored?.

When the experimental mice ran 5-10 kilometers per week for 3 months or underwent surgical surgery to remove excess adipose tissue, their interleukin-1 beta level decreased. As a result, the synaptic function was restored.

Moreover, the drugs that are now used to treat rheumatoid arthritis help mice with obesity and diabetes restore their cognitive abilities.

Although Dr. Stranahan says that exercise is the best option for patients with obesity and diabetes, he notes that a similar pharmacological intervention can be an alternative for those who are not able to perform adequate exercises (disabled, elderly people).

He concluded that liposuction is an undesirable option for patients, because in experiments to achieve good results mice had to remove much more fat tissue than they do to people in such procedures.

Now, scientists plan to conduct similar studies on conventional mice with alimentary obesity, because in this work rodents were used that are not able to synthesize leptin, the hormone responsible for the sense of saturation.

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