We've all been warned that obesity can increase our risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But, according to new research, it could be affecting our brain too.
Obesity affects more than 40 percent of Americans, according to data taken from 2017 to 2020 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even with a fairly active lifestyle, the excess weight associated with obesity can lead to the build up of fatty material in our blood vessels, which can damage our circulatory system and increase our risk of heart disease.
As well as these cardiovascular concerns, previous studies have also shown a strong link between mid-life obesity and an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia in later life. However, the mechanism underlying this association has been somewhat of a mystery. Until now.
In a new study from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, researchers investigated how a high body weight and high fat diet can affect blood flow to the brain and memory performance in aged obese mice. To determine these metrics, the team measured the rates of cellular senescence in the mice's brains—in other words, how many of the cells had stopped dividing and making new cells.
Cellular senescence increases with age and contributes to a variety of age-associated diseases. Therefore, measuring the presence of these senescing cells can give us a good indication of the "biological age" of a particular organ or tissues.
"Obesity may cause the cells in blood vessels in the brain to age faster and reach senescence," Sharon Negri, the study's first author and a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Stefano Tarantini, Ph.D., in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, said in a statement.
"If a link between obesity and cellular senescence is established, it could open up new lines of investigation aimed at exploring therapeutic avenues to prevent or slow down the progression of senescence, with the potential to mitigate obesity-related health issues, including cognitive decline," Negri said.
After just three months, the obese mice that had been fed a high-fat diet had significantly increased cellular senescence in their brains, as well as a reduced number of healthy blood vessels. They also showed impaired cognitive abilities when asked to complete a simple maze test compared with normal-weight mice that had been fed a standard diet.
Even more interestingly, removing these senescent cells in the brains of the obese mice improved brain vasculature, demonstrating that the deterioration in brain health was a direct result of the senescing cells.
More work is needed to confirm these results in humans, but these findings not only demonstrate the potential impacts of high fat diets and obesity on our cognitive health but also suggest potential avenues for future treatments for the detrimental effects of obesity on brain health.
The results will be presented at the American Physiology Summit in Long Beach California between the 4 and 7 April.
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