PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)

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

  • Feng-Shiun Shie,
  • Young-Ji Shiao,
  • Chih-Wen Yeh,
  • Chien-Hung Lin,
  • Tsai-Teng Tzeng,
  • Hao-Chieh Hsu,
  • Fong-Lee Huang,
  • Huey-Jen Tsay,
  • Hui-Kang Liu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134531
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 8
p. e0134531

Abstract

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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.