A new study has found that people with type 2 diabetes who
do not have dementia may be more prone to developing neurofibrillary tangles
found in brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients. Tangles are abnormal collection
of insoluble twisted fibers of a type of protein called Tau.
The study published in the journal Neurology was based on data from the US Alzheimer's Disease
Neuroimaging Initiative. Scientists examined the link between type 2 diabetes
and the death of brain cells and loss of connections. They also looked at the beta-amyloid
plaques (protein fragment snipped from an amyloid precursor protein - APP) and
protein tangles in the spinal fluid of the volunteers. Beta-amyloid plaques and
neurofibrillary tangles found in brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients are the
hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease described by Alois Alzheimer in 1906.
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The study involved 816 participants with an average age of
74. Of these participants, 397 individuals had mild cognitive impairment (MCI),
228 had no memory of cognitive problems, 191 were Alzheimer’s patients and 124
were diabetics.
The participants underwent MRI scan for the brain.
Cerebrospinal fluid samples were taken from half of the participants to measure
levels of beta-amyloid and tau – proteins that make up plaques and neurofibrillary
tangles found in brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients.
The study found that the brain’s cortex of the people with
type 2 diabetes were more thinning. Cortex is the area with the highest
concentration of nerve cells. They also found higher levels of the protein tau
in the spinal fluid of the patients with type 2 diabetes which indicated more
tangles in the brain.
This study has proof that people with type 2 diabetes are at
twice the risk of developing dementia, explains Dr. Velandai Srikanth, study
author and an assoc. prof. at Monash University in Melbourne.
Studies like this one sought to understand how conditions
such as diabetes may affect death of brain cells directly or indirectly. Since
brain’s nerve cells do not restore themselves, it is really crucial to find
ways to decrease brain cell death, he adds.
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However, Dr. Srikanth said that the study showed only a connection
between type 2 diabetes and neurofibrillary tangles found in brain cells of
Alzheimer’s patients. He wasn’t sure if type 2 diabetes was the cause. He
pointed to high blood sugar and obesity which are common among people with type
2 diabetes. Other researches had linked obesity to a greater accumulation of tangles.
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“Obesity could be part of the puzzle, too …. There is an
interesting body of evidence" tying obesity to tau, he explained,” said
Dr. Srikanth.
Dr. Srikanth said that since the study analyzed participants’
data at only point in time, cause-and-effect association between diabetes and neurofibrillary
tangles found in brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients was not determined.