Obesity and Hepatic Steatosis Are Associated with Elevated Serum Amyloid Beta in Metabolically Stressed APPswe/PS1dE9 Mice

PLoS One. 2015 Aug 5;10(8):e0134531. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134531. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Diabesity-associated metabolic stresses modulate the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). For further insights into the underlying mechanisms, we examine whether the genetic background of APPswe/PS1dE9 at the prodromal stage of AD affects peripheral metabolism in the context of diabesity. We characterized APPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic mice treated with a combination of high-fat diet with streptozotocin (HFSTZ) in the early stage of AD. HFSTZ-treated APPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic mice exhibited worse metabolic stresses related to diabesity, while serum β-amyloid levels were elevated and hepatic steatosis became apparent. Importantly, two-way analysis of variance shows a significant interaction between HFSTZ and genetic background of AD, indicating that APPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic mice are more vulnerable to HFSTZ treatment. In addition, body weight gain, high hepatic triglyceride, and hyperglycemia were positively associated with serum β-amyloid, as validated by Pearson's correlation analysis. Our data suggests that the interplay between genetic background of AD and HFSTZ-induced metabolic stresses contributes to the development of obesity and hepatic steatosis. Alleviating metabolic stresses including dysglycemia, obesity, and hepatic steatosis could be critical to prevent peripheral β-amyloid accumulation at the early stage of AD.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / blood*
  • Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / genetics
  • Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / metabolism
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animals
  • Blood Glucose / metabolism
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / blood*
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / genetics
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / blood
  • Fatty Liver / blood*
  • Humans
  • Leptin / blood
  • Lipids / blood
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Liver / pathology
  • Male
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Obesity / blood*
  • Peptide Fragments / blood
  • Presenilin-1 / genetics
  • Presenilin-1 / metabolism
  • Stress, Physiological / genetics
  • Triglycerides / metabolism
  • Weight Gain

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor
  • Blood Glucose
  • Fatty Acids, Nonesterified
  • Leptin
  • Lipids
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Presenilin-1
  • Triglycerides
  • amyloid beta-protein (1-40)
  • amyloid beta-protein (1-42)

Grants and funding

This work was funded by National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine (grant no. NRICM-101-pp-02) to YJS, Ministry of Science and Technology (grant no. MOST-102-2320-B-077-003) to HKL, and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST-103-2311-B-010-008) to HJT.