[HN Gopher] New research links potentially toxic fat-protein com...
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       New research links potentially toxic fat-protein complexes to
       Alzheimer's
        
       Author : echelon
       Score  : 89 points
       Date   : 2021-11-30 16:33 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.medicalnewstoday.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.medicalnewstoday.com)
        
       | HappySweeney wrote:
       | For those of us genetically predisposed to this disease, what
       | dietary changes would theoretically result in a reduction of
       | risk?
        
         | Gatsky wrote:
         | One option is to eat less of everything. This may sound dumb
         | but in the current stone age understanding of nutrition and
         | health, it is a reasonable option.
         | 
         | The only foods which are 'definitely safe' are leafy greens and
         | cruciferous vegetables. Could probably add berries to that in
         | moderation. Not saying that is all one should eat, what I mean
         | is to eat less of everything else than baseline, to some
         | caloric deficit. This excludes the few people who are
         | underweight for whatever reason, and those with certain
         | diseases.
        
           | ransom1538 wrote:
           | "leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables" Aren't these
           | covered in pesticides? If you are looking for reasons to not
           | eat: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/health/nutrition/31ag
           | in.h...
           | 
           | https://www.kxan.com/news/simplehealth/dirty-dozen-which-
           | fru...
        
           | pawelmurias wrote:
           | If you where in a constant state of caloric deficit you would
           | constantly loose weight.
        
             | JimTheMan wrote:
             | At every calorie level above starvation, there is an
             | equilibrium weight associated.
             | 
             | (Metabolism (which drops with less weight) + Exercise -
             | Intake) -> over time -> equilibrium weight.
             | 
             | So assuming you pick a low calorie diet for now, eventually
             | you'd maintain at a skinny weight.. and maybe live longer.
             | Maybe.
        
         | dilyevsky wrote:
         | Coffee and exercise have been shown to have protective effect
         | (not sure how robust those studies are) which seems consistent
         | with liver health/fat metabolism action...
        
           | mrec wrote:
           | Do you know if it's the caffeine in coffee, or something
           | else? (i.e. does decaf work?)
        
           | discreteevent wrote:
           | Also nicotine.
           | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1670208/
        
         | Fordec wrote:
         | What seems to be hinted at through this and other research out
         | in the past 12 month:
         | 
         | Reduce fat intake.
         | 
         | It's not the cause, but the carrier of toxins across the blood-
         | brain carrier. Reducing fat would reduce the rate of toxin
         | build up. It's not a cure, nor does it tackle the genetic
         | component, but way to prolong lifestyle.
        
           | dralley wrote:
           | Bad news for the Keto dieters.
        
             | humps wrote:
             | I don't think that fits. Someone following a strict keto or
             | low-carb diet is typically going to have healthier levels
             | of fat in their blood e.g. lower cholesterol. Add to that a
             | greatly reduced risk of diabetes and if these findings
             | prove true it may end up being another reason to adopt such
             | a diet.
        
           | notshift wrote:
           | Not sure what evidence you've been looking at; from what I've
           | read the opposite is true: Keto diet can be an effective
           | treatment for Alzheimer's.
           | 
           | https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jK6-r1zWOI0
        
         | ajaxowl wrote:
         | There are many dietary changes that can be implemented to
         | decrease the odds of the disease occurring in those who are
         | genetically predisposed. Look into a nutrition program that
         | specializes in Alzheimer's prevention.
         | 
         | For example: https://amosinstitute.com/cognitive-health-
         | program/
        
         | hadlock wrote:
         | I am not a liver expert, but it seems like those kinds of
         | compounds might be created by a malfunctioning liver, rather
         | than specifically diet induced.
        
           | abfan1127 wrote:
           | why is the liver malfunctioning? perhaps its a malfunction
           | induced by diet?
        
         | echelon wrote:
         | It's hard to say right now. It might be one possibility if this
         | line of research pans out.
         | 
         | This is a potential mechanism that they've experimentally built
         | and triggered. There's no guarantee this happens _in situ_
         | exactly as they 've set up. There's also the chance that
         | Alzheimer's is caused by various contributing factors.
         | 
         | This paper does look promising though, because they've
         | triggered the disease from the liver using lipoproteins that
         | have been observed.
         | 
         | I'd love for domain experts to weigh in.
        
         | victorvosk wrote:
         | It doesn't seem like they draw any correlation to food intake
         | since the mice were genetically modified to just emit the
         | proteins from their livers.
         | 
         | My guess is healthy diet and exercise go a long way. Don't
         | drink and avoid sugar (diabetes) both of which are damaging to
         | the liver.
        
         | rafaelero wrote:
         | Minimally processed plant-based diets. People keep fighting it,
         | but it always comes back as the optimal diet to healhty
         | longevity.
        
         | xdrone wrote:
         | some would say saturated fat is the cause
         | 
         | the mechanism could be atherosclerosis
         | https://youtu.be/t-noCw4LsY4?t=168
         | 
         | linear correlation by country https://youtu.be/Gel4vlG4Jbk?t=68
         | 
         | personally, i think something close to wfpb diet is the best
         | for all things (except gaining weight).
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | echelon wrote:
       | (Reposting again since it wasn't noticed ~1.5 months ago.)
       | 
       | This paper looks really good.
       | 
       | Amyloid beta has long been implicated in Alzheimer's. Now they've
       | found a way to trigger the disease by generating amyloid in the
       | liver and shown that it can reach the brain (by crossing the
       | blood brain barrier). This setup was shown to trigger the
       | disease. It's a very plausible mechanism that worked end-to-end
       | and seems to fit all of the observational evidence we've
       | gathered.
       | 
       | The paper: Synthesis of human amyloid restricted to liver results
       | in an Alzheimer disease-like neurodegenerative phenotype
       | 
       | https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/jou...
       | 
       | Abstract:
       | 
       | > Several lines of study suggest that peripheral metabolism of
       | amyloid beta (Ass) is associated with risk for Alzheimer disease
       | (AD). In blood, greater than 90% of Ass is complexed as an
       | apolipoprotein, raising the possibility of a lipoprotein-mediated
       | axis for AD risk. In this study, we report that genetic
       | modification of C57BL/6J mice engineered to synthesise human Ass
       | only in liver (hepatocyte-specific human amyloid (HSHA) strain)
       | has marked neurodegeneration concomitant with capillary
       | dysfunction, parenchymal extravasation of lipoprotein-Ass, and
       | neurovascular inflammation. Moreover, the HSHA mice showed
       | impaired performance in the passive avoidance test, suggesting
       | impairment in hippocampal-dependent learning. Transmission
       | electron microscopy shows marked neurovascular disruption in HSHA
       | mice. This study provides causal evidence of a lipoprotein-Ass
       | /capillary axis for onset and progression of a neurodegenerative
       | process.
       | 
       | We knew amyloid beta was highly associated with Alzheimer's.
       | We've been studying this for decades.
       | 
       | The researchers noticed amyloid beta was found in lipoprotein
       | complexes (fat+protein), then experimentally modified the liver
       | to produce it. The protein leaks out of the liver and causes
       | neurodegeneration.
       | 
       | > Insight into how blood Ab increases risk for AD comes from
       | findings that in humans, greater than 90% of blood Ab1-40 and 97%
       | of the particularly pro-amyloidogenic Ab1-42 is associated with
       | plasma lipoproteins [3], principally the triglyceride-rich
       | lipoproteins (TRLs) of hepatically derived very low-density
       | lipoproteins (VLDLs) and of postprandial chylomicrons [4,5].
       | Direct evidence of a peripheral TRL-Ab/vascular risk pathway for
       | AD comes from studies in preclinical models, which show that
       | cerebral capillary amyloid-angiopathy, a common early
       | neurovascular pathology of AD, may be a consequence of
       | parenchymal extravasation of TRL-Ab.
       | 
       | This implicates fatty acids originating from the liver migrating
       | (extravasation). And they just experimentally reproduced this.
       | 
       | Some quotes from the linked article:
       | 
       | > "This study," he added, "shows that exaggerated abundance in
       | blood of potentially toxic fat-protein complexes can damage
       | microscopic brain blood vessels called capillaries and,
       | thereafter, leak into the brain, causing inflammation and brain
       | cell death."
       | 
       | > "[Changes] in dietary behaviors and certain medications could
       | potentially reduce blood concentration of these toxic fat-protein
       | complexes, [subsequently] reducing the risk for Alzheimer's or
       | [slowing] down the disease progression," he concluded.
       | 
       | This would suggest that liver health and diet can play a factor
       | in disease development.
       | 
       | Of course there's the chance that this is just a really good
       | "biologically plausible" mechanism that looks good on paper, but
       | might not naturally occur outside of this experimental setup.
       | There will need to be much more research to either prove or rule
       | this out.
       | 
       | This looks exciting though.
        
         | newsbinator wrote:
         | > [Changes] in dietary behaviors and certain medications could
         | potentially reduce blood concentration of these toxic fat-
         | protein complexes, [subsequently] reducing the risk for
         | Alzheimer's
         | 
         | What would be some recommended changes in dietary behaviors if
         | this link were also verified in humans?
        
           | notshift wrote:
           | There have been several studies done showing that a healthy
           | keto diet can reduce or even reverse Alzheimers symptoms in
           | many patients. Just do a quick Google or YouTube search, lots
           | of content on the subject.
        
             | monopoledance wrote:
             | Not exactly what they hint at in this study...
             | 
             | > In wild-type (WT) C57BL/6J mice, a saturated fatty acid
             | (SFA)-enriched diet was found to strongly stimulate
             | biosynthesis and secretion of TRL-Ab, concomitant with a
             | reduction in cerebral capillary endothelial tight junction
             | proteins, blood-to-brain extravasation of TRL-Ab, and
             | marked neurovascular inflammation [6]. In contrast, mice
             | fed unsaturated fatty acid-rich diets had no evidence of
             | exaggerated TRL-Ab secretion and capillary integrity was
             | unremarkable [6,7].
             | 
             | ...
             | 
             | > Moreover, synergistic effects of TRL-Ab with exaggerated
             | central nervous system (CNS) synthesis of human Ab are also
             | suggested by the findings of accelerated amyloidosis in
             | amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1 (APP/PS1) mice
             | maintained on atherogenic diets [9].
             | 
             | Not saying keto is inherently an atherogenic diet, but
             | surely saturated fat and salt isn't exactly avoided by most
             | followers.
             | 
             | > Just do a quick Google or YouTube search, lots of content
             | on the subject.
             | 
             | Yeah.......... sure. Content.
        
               | notshift wrote:
               | Mice trials don't interest me much. Human trials of
               | various diets for Alzheimer's have been done along with
               | lots of individuals who have tested it on themselves or
               | family members with positive results.
               | 
               | I can't find one of the more comprehensive studies I was
               | looking at before, but a quick search pulls up this video
               | which discusses a recent human trial which showed
               | significant improvement on the keto diet (links to the
               | study in description):
               | 
               | https://youtu.be/jK6-r1zWOI0
        
               | ketogenic wrote:
               | Here is an example of a ketogenic diet:                 -
               | 2 eggs       - a cup of walnuts or almonds or pecans
               | - eaten with a slice of cheese (4g saturated fat)       -
               | 3 tablespoons of chia seeds with water       - peanuts
               | and macadamia nuts as needed for hunger       - steamed
               | vegetables (broccoli, greens, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes)
               | - eaten with 8 tablespoons of olive oil
        
           | felixbraun wrote:
           | avoid oxidized lipids and especially oxysterols
           | 
           | very good primer:
           | https://csroldsite.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/oxysterols-
           | the-t...
        
         | tux3 wrote:
         | I'm curious how this squares up with the failure of drugs
         | targeting beta-amyloid plaques. Despite some of these drugs
         | being very effective at clearing Ab plaques, they don't seem to
         | ever achieve any significant benefit in clinical trials.
         | 
         | Reading Derek Lowe, you'd get the impression that the beta
         | amyloid hypothesis is a formerly exciting thing of the past
         | with a disastrous track record.
         | 
         | >the relentless failure in this area, when amyloid plaques
         | seemed for so long to be the most likely causative agent for
         | the disease, is really something that makes you question
         | things.
         | 
         | >Add in the additional complete failures for every other
         | attempt at the amyloid mechanism (secretase inhibitors, for
         | example) and you start wondering if amyloid really is a cause
         | of the disease or not
         | 
         | Now Wikipedia is more optimistic:
         | 
         | >The "amyloid hypothesis", that the plaques are responsible for
         | the pathology of Alzheimer's disease, is accepted by the
         | majority of researchers but is not conclusively established.
         | 
         | I'm curious to see what comes out of this study, it's a very
         | encouraging result. But it's hard to resolve this conflict of
         | the mechanism looking great on paper, and completely failing in
         | trials.
        
           | goda90 wrote:
           | Could it be that the amyloid-beta plaques are just a by-
           | product of the same thing that is causing the damage in the
           | first place?
        
           | monopoledance wrote:
           | From what I got from skipping over the study, this isn't
           | about beta-amyloid itself, but "triglyceride-rich
           | lipoprotein" amyloid beta _complexes_.
           | 
           | The amyloid beta plaques may be not cause, but symptom of the
           | disease. Maybe the TRL-A-betas are causing the damage, get
           | metabolized and after that the protein separates and then
           | accumulates in the brain? The study states, the TRL-A-beta
           | are causing inflammation, which they attribute for disease
           | progression rather than A-beta plaque formation.
           | 
           | > ...the findings presented in this study nonetheless support
           | a now large body of evidence that demonstrates that the
           | genesis of plaque is not the initiating trigger for
           | neurodegenerative processes to be initiated, but rather, may
           | be consequential. This study provides evidence that more
           | subtle chronic interactive effects of peripheral metabolism
           | of TRL-Ab with the cerebrovasculature may be sufficient to
           | potentially cause AD.
           | 
           | So, clearing up A-betas may be just flushing the "damage
           | logs".
        
           | eightysixfour wrote:
           | I only have a passing understanding, so forgive me if I get
           | some of this wrong, but my understanding is that the beta
           | amyloid hypothesis is "disproven" from the perspective that
           | removing beta amyloid that has built up doesn't seem to
           | resolve the symptoms. That is different than it isn't a
           | causal link in the chain though.
           | 
           | For example (making this up) I don't think we have disproven
           | that beta amlyoid build-up causes inflammation, which
           | actually causes the brain damage via a process that continues
           | even once the beta amyloid is gone.
        
             | tux3 wrote:
             | What I find puzzling if the plaques are a link in the chain
             | (as opposed to a symptom), isn't so much that beta-amyloid
             | drugs stop short of outright resolving the symptoms, but
             | that they don't seem to affect the progress of the disease.
             | 
             | To continue with your example, if beta-amyloid was a major
             | source of inflammation, and inflammation caused the damage,
             | it'd seem reasonable to expect that removing the plaques
             | would result in slowed cognitive decline.
             | 
             | Strangely, this does not seem to happen in clinical trials.
        
             | randcraw wrote:
             | As I recall, several studies have also shown that people
             | can have high levels of amyloid-beta plaques (ABPs) in the
             | brain and not show any signs of dementia.
             | 
             | Between the two outcomes (ABPs exist but there's no
             | decline, and ABPs are removed but dementia persists), the
             | prevailing interpretation is that ABPs _alone_ do not cause
             | Alzheimer 's. They seem to arise along with the cognitive
             | loss, though not cause it.
             | 
             | Tau deposits and associated neurofibrillary tangles have
             | also been implicated in dementia, but also can be absent in
             | those with the disease, so they too are not directly
             | causal.
        
         | ortusdux wrote:
         | How do these findings line up with the controversy surrounding
         | Aducanumab?
        
         | pedalpete wrote:
         | Thanks for re-posting, I'm not sure how I missed this research,
         | and even in Australia as well (I'm Sydney based).
         | 
         | We're in sleep tech, building closed-loop SWO which of course
         | has an impact on removal of beta-amyloids, but all the research
         | I've seen to date has just not gone further than saying there
         | is a "correlation" between Ass and Alzheimers.
         | 
         | I'm not sure this completely closes the loop on cause-effect,
         | but it seems a very strong bit of evidence. Not sure how I
         | missed it before, but thanks.
        
       | vimy wrote:
       | Alzheimer isn't a disease but a symptom of chronic viruses and
       | bacteria. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6066504/
       | 
       | People with Alzheimer have been cured after taking antibiotics.
        
         | DantesKite wrote:
         | I've heard similar evidence for Alzheimer's being essentially
         | type III diabetes.
         | 
         | I'm starting to think the causes can be multi-variate.
        
       | mrtesthah wrote:
       | > Using mouse models, researchers in Australia have identified
       | one of the likely causes of Alzheimer's disease. Some have dubbed
       | the finding a "breakthrough."
       | 
       | Mice don't get alzheimer's.
        
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