Vitamin B3 may slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.👴👵

Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) researchers have found in
laboratory models that people's intake of vitamin B3 (niacin) can slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The findings of this study offer new possibilities for treating Alzheimer's disease. They recently published the results of the study in the journal Science Translational Medicine. They investigated how vitamin B3 alters the response of microglia to amyloid plaques in animal models of Alzheimer's disease. The researchers believe the results of this study could identify a potential new therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease. In addition, it could adjust the treatment guidelines for Alzheimer's disease. This therapeutic strategy has great potential in clinical treatment.

What are the benefits of niacin?

Niacin is also known as vitamin B3. Niacin can be obtained mainly through specific diets. It can maintain the function of metabolism of the whole body. Clinically, it is also used as a cholesterol-lowering drug or nutritional supplement. It is one of the water-soluble B vitamins. It occurs naturally in some foods, and it is added to foods as a supplement. Niacin and niacinamide are the two most common forms of niacin found in foods and supplements. In addition, an amino acid called tryptophan is also converted into niacinamide by the body. Because niacin is a water-soluble vitamin, the body excretes excess niacin in the urine when ingested in excess. Niacin works in the body as a form of coenzyme. There are more than 400 enzymes in the human body that depend on niacin for various reactions. It also helps convert nutrients into energy in the body, produces fat and cholesterol, generates and repairs DNA, and acts as an antioxidant.

Niacin interacts with highly selected HCAR2 receptors in the brain. HCAR2 receptors are present in immune cells associated with amyloid plaques. The researchers say that when niacin activates the receptor, these immune cells are stimulated by it to have beneficial effects on Alzheimer's disease. 

The results of the study showed that niacin treatment reduced amyloid plaques in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. It also improves cognition in animal models of Alzheimer's disease. These effects are all due to the HCAR2 receptor. The researchers also said that past epidemiological and niacin studies on Alzheimer's disease indicated that people with higher dietary intake of niacin had a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. In clinical trials, niacin has also been used in the treatment of glioblastoma and Parkinson's disease.

What are the main food sources of niacin?

In general, few people develop niacin deficiency. Because it is present in the food of many animals and plants. These foods include pork, poultry, fish, beef, beef liver, beans, nuts, seeds, brown rice, grains, bread, bananas, and more.

For more detail, you can read this article.👇

Miguel Moutinho, Shweta S. Puntambekar, Andy P. Tsai, Israel Coronel, Peter B. Lin, Brad T. Casali, Pablo Martinez, Adrian L. Oblak, Cristian A. Lasagna-Reeves, Bruce T. Lamb, Gary E. Landreth. The niacin receptor HCAR2 modulates microglial response and limits disease progression in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Science Translational Medicine, 2022; 14 (637) DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abl7634

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/niacin-vitamin-b3/

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Energy may be an important factor to Alzheimer's disease.💥💥💥

Alzheimer's disease is a common chronic neurological disease in the elderly, which is caused by patients with extensive cerebral cortex atrophy and degenerative diseases. It is mainly dysfunction and behavioral personality disorder. The early manifestations are progressive memory loss and decreased temporal and spatial orientation. In the late stage, he can't take care of himself, and even has difficulty eating, incontinence of urine and feces, unknowing pronunciation, and finally in a vegetative state. This will require dedicated care and will bring a great burden to the family. Researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia have found out a relationship between the route of cells produce energy for brain function and the mutant genes of patient with Alzheimer's disease. They published this finding that can prompt people to further study this relationship. This may be regarded as the basic and potential pathogenic factor of human Alzheimer's disease in the early stage.

What did the study do?

In this study, the researchers analyzed genetic mutations in the brains of younger adult zebrafish that are associated with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The zebrafish were chosen as the research object because their family is very large, which makes it easier to detect subtle effects through them. The research team uses mathematical analysis and advanced genetic technology. They compared the gene activity of zebrafish and found subtle differences between normal fish and mutant fish. Although the researchers found that different mutations in distinct genes can have many various effects on the function of fish brain cell, they also found that mutations in Alzheimer's disease can affect a very important function of cell, which is the utilize of oxygen in the cell to make energy.

The lead researcher of this study, Dr. Karissa Barthelson, thinks that this discovery is very interesting. Because they know that when Alzheimer's disease is finally progressed, people's brains will become severely lacking in energy. After they discovered the results of above research, they took this research to a deeper level. They knew that a research team had studied an important Alzheimer's disease-related gene in mice. They reanalyzed the research data of that research team. After reanalysis, they can see similar results. This strengthened their confidence in the results of their research. They believe that their research has discovered a basic, early pathogenic factor for Alzheimer's disease of  human. 

Prospects for the future.

The brain is composed of many different types of cells. These cells have complex ways of producing and sharing energy. The following, the research team at the University of Adelaide wants to study how Alzheimer's disease genetic mutations affect these different cell types. They are very satisfied that this study has found out an important and common early factor that induces the development of Alzheimer's disease. 

The researchers pointed out that the cost of Alzheimer's disease to society is very huge. Not only does it take human and financial resources to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves, but as the patients' cognitive and memory decline, they will also lose the relationship with their relatives and friends. 

Energy manufacturing is the most constitutional and basic cell activity that supports all other functions, especially in highly activated organs such as the brain. If people can understand in detail what is wrong with the utilize of oxygen and energy production. We may discover a method to stop the Alzheimer's disease before it starts. This will greatly benefit the elderly population.

My thoughts

Alzheimer's disease is a disease that lacks a cure. For some family members of patients, they may be even more painful than the patient during the long-term care of the patient. Therefore, they may begin to seek the help of professional elderly care institutions and nursing staff. This will increase their financial burden. Under the influence of these pressures, those family members are exhausted physically and mentally, and then suffer from illnesses. Although the US Food and Drug Administration approved Biogen's new drug for Alzheimer's disease, aducanumab, in mid-2021, the target, efficacy and price of this drug have been controversial. In addition, its treatment procedures are also very complicated. Its sales in the third quarter of 2021 were far worse than expected. Therefore, this discovery may provide a new idea to develop drugs for Alzheimer's disease.

If you want to know more detail, please read this article below👇:

Karissa Barthelson, Morgan Newman, Michael Lardelli; Brain transcriptomes of zebrafish and mouse Alzheimer's disease knock-in models imply early disrupted energy metabolism. Dis Model Mech 2021; dmm.049187. doi: 

https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.049187

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Anti-aging function of vitamin B2.👴👵

Previous studies have shown that the accumulation of aging cells in the body can lead to aging-related diseases and aging. Using supplements or drugs containing vitamin B2 can inhibit cell senescence. This may prevent and improve age-related diseases and extend people's healthy lifespan. Recently, researchers from Kobe University in Japan stated that adding vitamin B2 to cells exposed to the stress of aging will increase the ability of mitochondria to produce energy and prevent cell aging.

1. The mechanism of human aging.

Aging research is becoming more and more important to solve the medical and welfare problems that come with it and to help people live healthier lives. The process of body aging is not fully understood, but the aging of the cells that make up the body has been proven to be a factor. As the cell division cycle repeats, the telomere region at the end of each chromosome becomes shorter, which eventually leads to cell senescence. It is the cell loses the ability to divide. The reduction of telomere area is not the only relevant factor. Various types of stress on cells (such as DNA damage and reactive oxygen bursts) can also cause cell senescence. Aging cells caused by these stresses accumulate in the body with age. Aging cells have the harmful ability to cause the decline of the function of every organ in the body. By preventing the accumulation of senescent cells, age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes can be prevented or improved. 

2. The original intention of the research.

Vitamins are micronutrients necessary to maintain the normal functioning of the human body. Since the human body cannot synthesize vitamins, it must be absorbed from food and drinks. Vitamin B2 (also called riboflavin) is widely found in foods such as eggs, meat, and dairy products. It is an important vitamin for energy production and metabolism. Lack of vitamin B2 can cause symptoms such as mouth swelling and anemia. In addition, excessive intake of vitamin B2 generally has no negative effects, because it is a water-soluble vitamin that can be excreted from the body very quickly. Although vitamin B2 is an essential nutrient for maintaining health, its relationship with aging has not been studied. The research team began to study the effect of vitamin B2 on aging, hoping that if daily vitamins can inhibit cell aging, this will help provide low-cost and safe anti-aging drugs.

3. Research methods.

The research team found that by increasing the amount of SLC52A1 produced, the phenomenon of cell aging can be resisted. SLC52A1 is a vitamin B2 transporter. It is responsible for transporting vitamin B2 to the cell. When the production of SLC52A1 increases, even under stress conditions (treatment of human cells with drugs to damage DNA and induce senescence), cellular senescence does not occur immediately. On this basis, the researchers exposed the cells to a stressful environment, and then increased the vitamin B2 content in the culture medium. They found that the ability to resist aging increases with the content of vitamin B2 in the solution. In the cell, vitamin B2 is converted into a substance called flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), which is a coenzyme that promotes the chemical reactions necessary for biological activities (such as energy production). In stressed cells, mitochondrial activity temporarily increases and then decreases in activity leading to senescence. By increasing the content of vitamin B2 in the culture medium, maintaining a high level of stress-mediated mitochondrial activity, this also has anti-aging effects. Studies have found the activity of AMPK enzyme, which can detect energy deficiency in cells, and found that AMPK activity is inhibited by mitochondrial activity. On the contrary, using drugs to inhibit mitochondrial activity will cause AMPK to be activated and send a signal to the p53 (inducing cell senescence) protein to prevent cell division, leading to a state of senescence. The above results indicate that vitamin B2 can increase the mitochondrial activity of stressed cells and prevent aging by inhibiting the functions of AMPK and p53.

Summary: Cells under stress will produce SLC52A1 and increase their absorption of extracellular vitamin B2. Once in the cell, vitamin B2 will be converted into FAD, and increase the production of mitochondrial energy by becoming a coenzyme of the mitochondrial respiratory chain complex II. Therefore, AMPK and p53 (inducing cellular senescence) are inactivated, so stress-mediated cellular senescence is suppressed.

👉Vitamin B2 is easily absorbed from food and supplements, and even if it is taken too much, it will be quickly excreted from the body. Therefore, based on the cellular anti-aging properties of vitamin B2, treatment methods for age-related diseases have been developed. This drug is believed to be relatively cheap and safe.

For more detail, you can read this article.👇

Nagano T, Awai Y, Kuwaba S, Osumi T, Mio K, Iwasaki T, Kamada S. Riboflavin transporter SLC52A1, a target of p53, suppresses cellular senescence by activating mitochondrial complex II. Mol Biol Cell. 2021 Nov 1;32(21):br10. doi: 10.1091/mbc.E21-05-0262. Epub 2021 Sep 15. PMID: 34524871.

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People who love to eat fish may have fewer cerebrovascular diseases.🐟🐟🐟

It is well known that eating more fish is good for the body. Recently, a research show that elderly people who love to eat fish have fewer cerebrovascular diseases. Cerebrovascular disease involves harm to cerebral blood vessels and is a risk factor for stroke and vascular dementia. The University of Bordeaux conducted a large-scale research of the relationship between vascular disease and dementia. 

They analyzed the results of MRI scans of more than 1600 people over 65-year-old who had no history of cardiovascular disease,  dementia or stroke in the research. The participants also filled out a questionnaire about their eating habits. The participants were divided into four groups based on their frequency of eating fish: four or more times a week, two to three times a week, once a week or less than once a week. Then the researchers compared their signs of cerebrovascular disease.

Eating more fish may have fewer cerebrovascular diseases

In the MRI scans, the participants who ate fish more frequently showed fewer signs of damage in their brain than the participants who ate fish less frequently. Compared with the elderly in the study, the association between vascular disease and fish intake was stronger in 65 to 69-year-old people. However, there was no significant connection between vascular disease and fish intake in over 75-year-old people.

Experts believe that for most people, the risk of dementia depends on the different complex factors, such as environmental and genetic factors. People understood which aspects of lifestyle have the greatest influence on brain health. It is the key to enabling them to make the good decisions of their lifestyle. This observational research cannot determine the reason and result relationship. Although the researchers try to control for other factors that may lead to differences in signs of cerebrovascular disease, it is still difficult to clearly ensure the relationship between cerebrovascular disease and the number of fish intake. Based on the study, it is also unclear about the relevance of the findings to long-term brain health. Although fish is a important source of essential fatty acids and the National Health Service in the United Kingdom also recommends eating two servings of fish a week as part of a balanced diet, no single specific food or supplement can be maintaining the brain healthy.

Not smoking, drinking within the recommended range, eating balanced diet, exercising moderately and have a healthy lifestyle are all lead to a healthier brain and body.😁

Reference：

Fish Intake and MRI Burden of Cerebrovascular Disease in Older Adults 11 2021,
10.1212/WNL.0000000000012916; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000012916

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The cognitive of breastfeeding women show better than non-breastfeeding.👶👶👶

It is well known about breastfeeding is good for the babies, but there were few studies have focused on the health effects of breastfeeding on mothers. Recently, a research showed that breastfeeding may also have long-term benefits for the mother's own health. Compared with women who have not breastfed their children, women who have breastfed their children carried out better performance on cognitive ability after the age of 50. 

The relationship between cognitive ability and Alzheimer's disease

Cognitive ability is closely related to the health of the elderly. However, cognitive ability will continue to be declined after the age of 50 and it may also become a important factor in predicting Alzheimer's disease (AD). Alzheimer's disease is one of the main manifestations of dementia and one of the main causes of damage to the health of the elderly. Moreover, women are more likely to suffer from AD than men. 

Breastfeeding benefit to the mother's cognitive ability

There were some studies have found that breastfeeding can help improve baby's emotion, reduce mother's stress and the risk of postpartum depression. This suggests that breastfeeding may be have great benefit to the mother's neurocognitive ability and may strengthen the mother's long-term cognitive ability.

In that research, the researchers investigate more than a hundred women with or with out depression. All participants completed a series of comprehensive psychological tests that measured learning ability, executive function, processing speed and so on. They also answered a questionnaire about their reproductive life history which included the age at they began menstruation, the number of complete and incomplete pregnancies, the length of time each baby was breastfeeding and their menopausal age. None of the participants were diagnosed with dementia or other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, alcohol or drug dependence, neurological disorders. They had been prevented to take any psychoactive drugs during the research. There were also no significant differences between depressed and non-depressed participants in terms of age, race, education or other cognition. Whether they were depression, the results also showed that women who had breastfed performed better than women who had not breastfed.

Whether they were depression or not, the results also showed that women who had breastfed was performed better than women who had not breastfed.

Researches need to explore the relationship between breastfeeding history and cognitive performance in a larger and more diverse group of women. It is important to better understand the impact of breastfeeding on women's health.

For more detail, read the research article👇👇👇

Women who breastfeed exhibit cognitive benefits after age 50. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoab027

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What does alcohol do to your brain?🍸🍸🍸

We always know alcohol is harm for the brain and memory, but what does alcohol actually do to your brain? This time, we will discuss about it. 

1. Gray matter is decreasing

An article published in the American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) studied the effects of alcohol consumption on brain growth and development in adolescents aged 12-21. They tracked the brains of the participants before and after the study via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and it was found that the volume of gray matter in the participants who drank a lot of alcohol decreased more quickly. The growth of central white matter was slower than the low-drinking group.

During the maturation of the brain, the gray matter of the cerebral cortex will normally increase during the first ten years of life and then it will continue to decline. Throughout adolescence stage, the volume of white matter increases and only slows down in the third decade. The results of the study show that alcohol clearly deviates the teenagers' brains from normal developmental rules. Because the prefrontal area of the brain is the latest to mature, the prefrontal cortex gray matter has the most obvious effect. The frontal cortex is the brain area responsible for cognitive function. The accelerated decline of the prefrontal cortex will lead to accelerated impairment of cognitive function. The damage caused by alcohol to these areas may also affect their  self-control, decision-making ability and judgment.

2. Hippocampus is shrinking

A study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), 550 adult participants repeatedly measured cognitive performance, weekly alcohol consumption and performed MRI. 

Participants who consumed 30 units of alcohol per week (1 unit is about 8g of alcohol) had the highest risk of hippocampal atrophy. It was 5.8 times non-drinkers. Moderate drinkers (male: 7-21 units/week, female: 7-14 units/week) have 3.4 times the risk of hippocampal atrophy to non-drinkers. Light drinking (1-7 units/week) cannot still prevent hippocampal atrophy.

3. The brain is shrinking and it is not far from dementia

Researchers believe that heavy drinking is the most important risk factor for dementia, especially early-onset dementia. They found more than 1 million cases of dementia, ruled out patients with rare forms of dementia and early mental disorders. They finally found that there are over nine hundred thousand people actually suffer from alcohol use disorders. It can be seen that there is a strong correlation between alcohol and dementia. In early-onset dementia, 57% of patients under 65 years of age have a history of alcohol abuse suffer from dementia.

4. There may be gender differences, men are probably more serious

The long-term effects of alcohol on the brain are mediated by 𝛾-aminobutyric acid and brain potential changes are caused by transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex. A study compares with the brain potential changes between drinkers and non-drinkers. It was found that the amplitude of brain potential changes in men was more obvious. This indicates that the harm of long-term drinking in men may be higher than that in women. The changes of brain function are more likely to occur.

😣For your health, don't drink too much at least.😣

For more detail, click the links below👇👇👇

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/888268#vp_4

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/882497

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/892918

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/885290

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Highly processed foods will harm memory in the elderly~~👴👵

A new research found that after only four weeks of a highly processed food diet , the brains of aging rats have a strong inflammatory response, accompanied by behavioral signs of memory loss.

In the study, the diet mimics ready-to-eat product, which are usually packaged for a long time and have a long shelf life (such as potato chips and other snacks), frozen food (such as pasta and pizza), and cooked meats containing preservatives. Highly processed diets are also associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes, which suggests that it is best for elderly to reduce eating ready-to-eat products. 

Eating highly processed foods can cause severe memory deficits. In the elderly, rapid memory decline is more likely to develop into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers also found that the intake of omega-3 fatty acid dietary supplements can prevent memory problems and almost completely reduce the effects of inflammation in elderly rats. 

Maybe people should limit to eat highly processed foods in the diet and increase the intake of foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids to prevent or slow down this deterioration.

Reference：

Michael J. Butler, Nicholas P. Deems, Stephanie Muscat, Christopher M. Butt, Martha A. Belury, Ruth M. Barrientos. Dietary DHA prevents cognitive impairment and inflammatory gene expression in aged male rats fed a diet enriched with refined carbohydrates. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2021; 98: 198 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2021.08.214

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