Previous research has shown a link between intelligence decline and diseases such as obesity and diabetes..

New work by scientists from the Medical College of Georgia and Georgia Regent University has shown that regular exercise or surgical removal of belly fat can restore intelligence to mice with a similar problem..

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

Obesity and diabetes have already been shown to triple the risk of mild cognitive impairment and increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to a team of scientists including Dr. Alexis Stranahan.. To learn more about the effects 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 levels of inflammatory cytokines.

The mice studied had a fault in one gene that made them prone to obesity and diabetes.. The researchers found that these rodents have significantly increased levels of cytokines in the blood - small proteins that attack various pathogens and are triggers of the body's immune response..

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 very high levels of cytokines, and I think this is because their body reacts to fat as a hostile agent that enters tissues where it should not be.”.

As soon as the body gets rid of pathogens, the level of cytokines should fall.. But the researchers found that in mice with obesity and diabetes, 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 response that leads to immune cells “devouring” neuronal synapses.. These synapses are essential for communication between brain cells..

Synapse functions can be restored?

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

What's more, drugs currently being used to treat rheumatoid arthritis help obese and diabetic mice regain their cognitive abilities..

While Dr. Stranahan says exercise is the best option for obese and diabetic patients, he notes that a similar pharmacological intervention could be an alternative for those people who are unable to exercise adequately (disabled, elderly).

He concluded that liposuction is an undesirable option for patients, because during the experiments, in order to achieve good results, mice had to remove much more adipose tissue than is removed from humans during such procedures..

Now the scientists are planning to conduct similar studies on normal mice with alimentary obesity, because in this work they used rodents that are not able to synthesize leptin, a hormone responsible for feeling full..

medbe. en.