New study identifies link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease

A new study from the US has indicated that diabetes could contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Led by the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, the study used mouse test subjects to demonstrate that elevated glucose in the blood can rapidly increase levels of amyloid beta, a key component of brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's.

In young mice without amyloid plaques in their brains, doubling glucose levels in the blood increased amyloid beta levels in the brain by 20 percent, rising to 40 percent for older animals that had already developed the plaques.

Providing diabetes drugs to the test subjects was shown to be an effective means of countering this process and ensuring that production of amyloid beta remained constant.

Building on this discovery, the team are now using diabetes drugs in mice with conditions similar to Alzheimer's to further explore this connection.

Lead author Dr Shannon Macauley, a postdoctoral research scholar, said: "This observation opens up a new avenue of exploration for how Alzheimer's disease develops in the brain, as well as offering a new therapeutic target for the treatment of this devastating neurologic disorder."