Nutritional intervention may retard the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
In this study we tested the effects of 2 multi-nutrient diets in an AD mouse model. The diets were developed to enhance contacts/connections  between nerve cells and improve the vascular health. We measured the cerebral blood flow (CBF) and the connections within the brain with imaging methods. Alzheimer mice have a decreased CBF and loss of brain connections like in patients with AD. Both multinutrient diets were able to increase CBF and connections in the mice brains. We suggest that a specific diet intervention has the potential to slow AD progression, by simultaneously improving cerebrovascular health and enhancing neuroprotective mechanisms.

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Atherosclerosis and apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE4) genotype are risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Sex differences exist in prevalence and manifestation of both diseases. We investigated sex differences respective to aging, focusing on cognitive parameters in apoE4 and apoE knockout (ko) mouse models of AD and CVD. To our knowledge, no other studies investigating presynaptic density in aging female apoE4 or apoE ko mice are available. Sex-specific differences between APOE genotypes could account for some sex differences in AD and CVD.s

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Dynamic, interrelated late-life parameters, such as body mass index (BMI), cognition, and physical functioning on mortality in the elderly are unclear, as is the influence of APOE genotype. We explored these measures in relation to 7-year mortality in long-lived Italian elderly, comprising a representative, age-stratified, population sample from Treviso, Italy, the Treviso Longeva (TRELONG) Study. Three hundred eleven men and 357 women, aged 70 years and older (mean age 84 ± 8 years) were followed for seven-year mortality, which was evaluated in association with BMI, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, Activities of Daily Living (ADL), APOE genotype, and a variety of clinical and survey data.
In separate age- and sex-adjusted analyses, BMI <18.5 kg/m(2), MMSE ≤24, and ADL <6, were associated with greater 7-year mortality among adults aged 70 years and older. In a multivariate model including all factors, MMSE ≤24, and ADL <6 were associated with greater mortality; BMI ≥30 kg/m(2) was protective. There were no interactions between BMI, MMSE, or ADL. When excluding those dying within 3 years of baseline, only an MMSE ≤24 was related to mortality. Higher MMSE score, higher ADL score, and higher BMI, independent of age, sex, and other factors, are markers for longer life among northern Italian adults aged 70 years or older. Global cognition, BMI, and physical functioning, assessed by short, simple tests are profound indicators of death within less than a decade.

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In Alzheimer´s disease the APP processing is shifted from the protective non-amyloidogenic pathway to the amyloidogenic pathway leading to Ab production, one of the major components of senile plaques. Therefore one aim is to identify pathways leading to an increased protective non-amyloidogenic pathway. In this study we have identified the protein XBP1 in regulating the non-amyloidogenic pathways and identified the underlying mechanisms. XBP1 is a protein being involved in the stress response of cells, especially in the unfolded protein response. Further experiments revealed these regulating mechanisms and the link to the non-amyloidogenic pathway are disturbed in case of Alzheimer´s disease.

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