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. 2013 Oct;21(10):2007-13.
doi: 10.1002/oby.20332. Epub 2013 May 25.

Dyslipidemia links obesity to early cerebral neurochemical alterations

Andreana P Haley  1 , Mitzi M Gonzales, Takashi Tarumi, Hirofumi Tanaka
Affiliations

Dyslipidemia links obesity to early cerebral neurochemical alterations

Andreana P Haley et al. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the role of hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia in potentially accounting for obesity-related brain vulnerability in the form of altered cerebral neurochemistry.

Design and methods: Sixty-four adults, ages 40-60 years, underwent a health screen and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1) H MRS) of occipitoparietal gray matter to measure N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), myo-inositol (mI), and glutamate (Glu) relative to creatine (Cr). The causal steps approach and nonparametric bootstrapping were utilized to assess if fasting glucose, mean arterial pressure or peripheral lipid/lipoprotein levels mediate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cerebral neurochemistry.

Results: Higher BMI was significantly related to higher mI/Cr, independent of age and sex. BMI was also significantly related to two of the proposed mediators, triglyceride, and HDL-cholesterol, which were also independently related to increased mI/Cr. Finally, the relationship between BMI and mI/Cr was significantly attenuated after inclusion of triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol into the model, one at a time, indicating statistical mediation.

Conclusions: Higher triglyceride and lower HDL levels statistically account for the association between BMI and myo-inositol, pointing toward a potentially critical role for dyslipidemia in the development of cerebral neurochemical alterations in obesity.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Volume of interest borders on high-resolution anatomy (A) and representative spectrum (B) NAA = N-acetyl-aspartate; Glu = glutamate; Cr = creatine and phosphocreatine; Cho = choline and phosophocholine; mI = myo-inositol
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatterplot showing a significant direct effect of increased BMI on cerebral myo-inositol levels
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scatterplots showing a significant relationships between BMI and the proposed mediators, triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol levels (panels A & B), as well as significant relationships between the proposed mediators, triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol levels, and the outcome variable, cerebral myo-inositol concentration (panels C & D).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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