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Reduced calorie and carbohydrate diet slows progression of Alzheimer's
disease in mouse model
Public release date: 12-Jan-2005
Contact: Mount Sinai Press Office
[email protected]
212-241-9200
Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
A Mount Sinai School of Medicine led study is the first to suggest that
Alzheimer's disease may be slowed and possibly prevented through dietary
changes
Researchers found that a low carbohydrate diet that reduced total
caloric intake by 30% prevented the development of a fundamental feature
of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in mice genetically engineered to develop
the disease. The diet eliminated amyloid plaque development, which is
the underlying pathology in AD. The study, published in the February
issue of The FASEB Journal Express, is the first to demonstrate that a
change in diet can slow and possibly prevent Alzheimer's diseases.
"While it is far too early for us to make specific recommendations for
human diets," said Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, Professor of
Psychiatry, Neurosciences and Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mount
Sinai School of Medicine and primary investigator on the study, "these
findings provide the first solid evidence that dietary changes may
provide a new approach to treatment and prevention of this devastating
disease."
Dr. Pasinetti and his colleagues found that mice did not develop the
physiological markers of the disease when they were fed a reduced
carbohydrate diet that provided 70% of the calories eaten by similar
mice who were allowed to eat ad-libitum. The strain of mice used in the
study was genetically engineered to produce what are known as
amyloidogenic â-amyloid peptides in the brain, resulting in formation of
amyloid plaques which are known to be the fundamental problem in
Alzheimer' disease. Of the mice fed ad-libitum, 100% developed these
plaques. No plaque development was detected in the mice fed a
carbohydrate and calorie restricted diet.
The diet regimen was begun when the mice were 3-months old, which is
considered young adult and is prior to the age at when this Alzheimer's
disease mouse model begins to develop plaques in the brain. The presence
of plaques was evaluated at 12 months of age, which is an age at which
plaques are known to be well developed in this strain.
The investigators found that anti-amyloidogenic activities were
increased in mice fed the restricted diet. In other words, the calorie
restricted diet activated pathways that break down amyloidogenic
â-amyloid peptides in the brain before they form the plaques
characteristic of AD.
"Since the diet only reduced calories by 30%, (based on carbohydrate)
the mice developed normally," said Dr. Pasinetti. "While they did not
gain weight like the mice in the control group, they did not loose
weight either and remained within the boundaries considered a healthy
weight. Nonetheless, this rather mild change in diet resulted in a
remarkable measure of disease prevention. There is epidemiological
evidence that humans who consume reduced calorie diets have a lower
incidence of AD. Our investigation provides a possible rational for this
observation and possible mechanisms through which caloric reduction may
provide protection in Alzheimer's disease."
Ongoing studies are investigating whether or not the prevention of
plaque development in these mice also prevents behavioral decline and
clinical studies are currently being designed at Mount Sinai School of
Medicine to explore the applicability of this experimental evidence in
Alzheimer's disease cases.
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disease in mouse model
Public release date: 12-Jan-2005
Contact: Mount Sinai Press Office
[email protected]
212-241-9200
Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
A Mount Sinai School of Medicine led study is the first to suggest that
Alzheimer's disease may be slowed and possibly prevented through dietary
changes
Researchers found that a low carbohydrate diet that reduced total
caloric intake by 30% prevented the development of a fundamental feature
of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in mice genetically engineered to develop
the disease. The diet eliminated amyloid plaque development, which is
the underlying pathology in AD. The study, published in the February
issue of The FASEB Journal Express, is the first to demonstrate that a
change in diet can slow and possibly prevent Alzheimer's diseases.
"While it is far too early for us to make specific recommendations for
human diets," said Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, Professor of
Psychiatry, Neurosciences and Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mount
Sinai School of Medicine and primary investigator on the study, "these
findings provide the first solid evidence that dietary changes may
provide a new approach to treatment and prevention of this devastating
disease."
Dr. Pasinetti and his colleagues found that mice did not develop the
physiological markers of the disease when they were fed a reduced
carbohydrate diet that provided 70% of the calories eaten by similar
mice who were allowed to eat ad-libitum. The strain of mice used in the
study was genetically engineered to produce what are known as
amyloidogenic â-amyloid peptides in the brain, resulting in formation of
amyloid plaques which are known to be the fundamental problem in
Alzheimer' disease. Of the mice fed ad-libitum, 100% developed these
plaques. No plaque development was detected in the mice fed a
carbohydrate and calorie restricted diet.
The diet regimen was begun when the mice were 3-months old, which is
considered young adult and is prior to the age at when this Alzheimer's
disease mouse model begins to develop plaques in the brain. The presence
of plaques was evaluated at 12 months of age, which is an age at which
plaques are known to be well developed in this strain.
The investigators found that anti-amyloidogenic activities were
increased in mice fed the restricted diet. In other words, the calorie
restricted diet activated pathways that break down amyloidogenic
â-amyloid peptides in the brain before they form the plaques
characteristic of AD.
"Since the diet only reduced calories by 30%, (based on carbohydrate)
the mice developed normally," said Dr. Pasinetti. "While they did not
gain weight like the mice in the control group, they did not loose
weight either and remained within the boundaries considered a healthy
weight. Nonetheless, this rather mild change in diet resulted in a
remarkable measure of disease prevention. There is epidemiological
evidence that humans who consume reduced calorie diets have a lower
incidence of AD. Our investigation provides a possible rational for this
observation and possible mechanisms through which caloric reduction may
provide protection in Alzheimer's disease."
Ongoing studies are investigating whether or not the prevention of
plaque development in these mice also prevents behavioral decline and
clinical studies are currently being designed at Mount Sinai School of
Medicine to explore the applicability of this experimental evidence in
Alzheimer's disease cases.
###