Adipocytokines: A Potential Link Between Obesity and CNS Disorders

Abstract

The interrelationships between obesity and high fat mass with different chronic
pathophysiological conditions have been taken into consideration in recent decades along with
the growing prevalence of obesity. Epidemiological evidence supports the increased risk of
the onset and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, dyslipidemia, type
2 diabetes and some types of cancers with obesity.1 Studies in neurological disorders have also
suggested the potential contribution of obesity in developing structural pathologies in the brain
in different life stages.2
Obesity can induce atrophic changes in vulnerable areas of the brain including
hippocampus, cingulate gyrus and frontal lobes, which in turn could be a risk factor for
Alzheimer’s disease (AD).3,4 Age-related deficits such as decline in immediate memory
function have also been exacerbated with higher body mass index (BMI) and abdominal
obesity especially in people with AD.5 Furthermore, the risk of dementia is 2.34 to 3.60 fold
higher in obese people with a waist circumference above recommended cut offs.6 Although,
the exact mechanisms by which obesity could influence the CNS are not fully understood, they
may involve many mediators including systemic and brain peptides and cytokines.7 In 2009, it
has been confirmed that circulating inflammatory cytokines might mediate the effect of midlife
obesity on brain gray matter reduction in pre- and post-menopausal women.