Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease with Higher Levels of Leptin

From Geriatric Pharmacy Intern, Wendy Fisher, PharmD (c)
Nova Southeastern University

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 50-75% of total dementia cases. The primary risk factors for AD are age greater than 65 and family history. It is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder manifested by cognitive and memory deterioration and impairment of activities of daily living. There are medications for AD that may reduce the symptoms, but there is no cure and the disease is eventually fatal.

Leptin is a protein hormone that is produced by fat cells in the body. It is involved in the regulation of appetite, energy balance and metabolism.

According to a recent study by Wolfgang Lieb, M.D. and colleagues, people with higher levels of leptin may have a reduced incidence of AD. The occurrence of AD decreased gradually with increasing levels of leptin. According to the authors, "these findings are consistent with recent experimental data indicating that leptin improves memory function in animals through direct effects on the hippocampus (the area of the brain associated with memory) and strengthens the evidence that leptin is a hormone with a broad set of actions in the central nervous system (the part of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord).”

Further studies are needed to explore the basis for the observed association, but these results open a door to a possible future treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.