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Interleukin-1 beta: a common cause of Alzheimer's disease and diabetes mellitus

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 09:45 authored by Holden, RJ, Mooney, PA
Alzheimer disease is characterized by the presence of β-amyloid protein deposits, neurofibrillary tangles and cholinergic dysfunction throughout the hippocampal region. In addition, the hippocampus, hypothalamus and olfactory bulb - the three areas where the insulin receptors are most dense - are also subject to neurodegeneration. The exact cause of the β-amyloid deposits and NFTs is unknown. However, it is our intention to explicate the various pathogenic pathways through which Alzheimer disease arises. Fundamentally, the structural and metabolic damage found in Alzheimer disease is due to sustained elevation of interleukin-1β, a feature which is also found in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Similarly, the β-AP deposits found in the Alzheimer brain share the same molecular structure as the amylin deposits found in the pancreatic beta-cells in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), and are equally neurotoxic. These, and other pathophysiological parallels, afford some insight into the probable cause of Alzheimer disease and, as such, forms the basis of the causal hypothesis advanced in this paper.

History

Publication title

Medical Hypotheses

Volume

45

Issue

6

Pagination

559-571

ISSN

0306-9877

Department/School

School of Health Sciences

Publisher

Churchill Livingstone

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Other health not elsewhere classified

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