{"id":184766,"date":"2025-05-12T09:34:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T07:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medios.uchceu.es\/actualidad-ceu\/discovering-the-relationship-between-diabetes-treatments-and-biomarkers-for-alzheimers-disease\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T10:23:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T08:23:25","slug":"discovering-the-relationship-between-diabetes-treatments-and-biomarkers-for-alzheimers-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medios.uchceu.es\/actualidad-ceu\/en\/discovering-the-relationship-between-diabetes-treatments-and-biomarkers-for-alzheimers-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovering the relationship between diabetes treatments and biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Researchers from the DeCo Research Chair, a joint initiative from CEU UCH and MICOF<\/a>, Valencia’s pharmacists’ association, have studied the effect of type 2 diabetes medication on biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease in cerebrospinal fluid. The research has been published in the Journal of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Juan Pardo-Albiach, Mar Garc\u00eda Zamora, Anna Marseglia, Gemma Garc\u00eda-Lluch, Carmen Pe\u00f1a Bautista, Consuelo Ch\u00e1fer and Lucrecia Moreno, co-authors of the study. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Researchers from the DeCo Research Chair<\/a><\/strong>, a joint initiative from the CEU Cardenal Herrera University (CEU UCH)<\/a> and Valencia’s pharmacists’ association, the Muy Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Farmac\u00e9uticos de Valencia (MICOF)<\/a>, to support research into the early detection of cognitive impairment<\/strong>, have published a new study in the Journal of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease<\/em>. They examined the relationship between type 2 diabetes treatments and biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease <\/strong>in cerebrospinal fluid. The study has been carried out in conjunction with members of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Group at the Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria La Fe (IIS-La Fe)<\/a> in Valencia and of the Center for Alzheimer Research at the Karolinka Institutet <\/a>in Stockholm, Sweden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This new study forms part of the doctoral research<\/strong> undertaken by Gemma Garc\u00eda-Lluch<\/a>, CEU UCH lecturer and researcher at the DeCo Research Chair<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cWe started from the hypothesis that insulin resistance is pivotal in mediating amyloid and tau dysregulations in Alzheimer’s disease,” said Garc\u00eda-Lluch. “Amyloid fragments can accumulate and form plaques in the brain, and these are associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Tangles of tau protein can also form inside neurons, impairing their function. We decided to study patients with type 2 diabetes, focusing on the impact of different antidiabetic agents, daily dosage intake, and treatment duration on biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease on cerebrospinal fluid.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The study was undertaken on patients aged between 50 and 80 with type 2 diabetes<\/strong> with an Alzheimer’s disease<\/strong> diagnosis. These patients had been included between 2017 and 2023 in the VALCODIS (Valencian Cognitive Diseases Study) cohort of patients at the Neurology Unit of Valencia’s Hospital Universitario y Polit\u00e9cnico La Fe to facilitate the early diagnosis of this disease. \u201cThe biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid studied in these patients were total tau (t-tau), phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau), and amyloid-\u03b2 42 (A\u03b242). We recorded the defined daily doses of antidiabetic prescriptions and the years of drug exposure duration at the time of the lumbar puncture for the sample of cerebrospinal fluid.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The study has been carried out in conjunction with members of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Group at the Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria La Fe (IIS-La Fe) in Valencia and of the Center for Alzheimer Research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Three treatment types<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key findings was that the consumption of insulin<\/strong> was associated with a lower probability of abnormal A\u03b242 levels and tau pathology. Diabetes type 2 patients treated with metformin<\/strong> were also less likely to suffer tau pathology when their diabetes was uncontrolled, but the drug also acted on t-tau and the relationship between t-tau and amyloid-\u03b242 when it was administered with insulin and the patients’ diabetes was controlled. \u201cThis means that the combination of metformin and insulin may have protective effects on the brains of patients whose diabetes is well-managed,” she said. Lower probabilities of abnormal biomarker levels were also observed when other oral antidiabetic drugs were administered to metformin and insulin users. Treatment with inhibitors of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (iSGLT2<\/strong>) could reduce the risk of this pathology regardless of diabetes management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucrecia Moreno<\/a>, Professor of Pharmacology at CEU UCH and Director of the DeCo Research Chair<\/a><\/strong>, believes that \u201cthese results show the impact that antidiabetic treatment can have on pathological biomarkers related to Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, treatments for this kind of diabetes in patients in whom Alzheimer’s is detected at an early stage could be adjusted, so that, together with other factors, we can slow the course of this neurodegenerative disease. We need to do more research of this type to assess the possible effects of chronic treatment on cognitive decline in older people\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team behind the study<\/strong> – \u201cAssociations between antidiabetic medications and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease\u201d, published in the Journal of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease – <\/em><\/a>includes researchers from the DeCo-MICOF-CEU UCH Research Chair, <\/strong><\/a>Gemma Garc\u00eda-Lluch, Mar Garc\u00eda-Zamora, Lucrecia Moreno-Royo and Juan Pardo-Albiach; members of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Group at the Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria La Fe (IIS-La Fe)<\/strong> in Valencia, Consuelo Ch\u00e1fer, Miguel Baquero, Carmen Pe\u00f1a-Bautista, and Lourdes \u00c1lvarez; and staff from the Center for Alzheimer Research at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm (Sweden), <\/strong>Anna Marseglia and Eric Westman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of three research groups will meet this week at CEU UCH, at the 3rd Interdisciplinary Conference on Raising Awareness of Cognitive Impairment<\/strong>, organized by the DeCo-MICOF-CEU UCH Research Chair. Sara Garc\u00eda Ptacek, a neurologist and accredited researcher at Sweden’s Institutet Karolinska and Miquel Baquero Toledo, a neurologist and head of the Cognitive Disorders Unit will both be giving talks at the conference on 16th April. Mar Garc\u00eda-Zamora, Gemma Garc\u00eda-Lluch, Mar\u00eda Gil, Gonzalo Adsuar, Cristina Garc\u00eda and Amando Mengual, pre-doctoral DeCo reseachers and doctoral candidates at CEINDO (CEU’s international doctoral school), will also be reporting on their research at the event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read<\/strong> \u201cAssociations between antidiabetic medications and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease\u201d, in the Journal of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease<\/em>: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/13872877241304995<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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En el Special Seminar de hoy, Sara Garc\u00eda Ptacek, investigadora acreditada y neur\u00f3loga en el @karolinskainst<\/a> de Suecia, nos ha hablado de reposicionamiento de f\u00e1rmacos y #Alzheimer<\/a>
III Jornada Interdisciplinar sobre Deterioro Cognitivo, de la @CatedraDeCo<\/a> de @micofvlc<\/a> y @uchceu<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/5CGAEngfD4<\/a><\/p>— Ciencia CEU UCH (@CienciaUCHCEU) April 16, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>