Researchers here note an interesting role for one of the common ketone bodies found in mammalian biochemistry, in that it provokes clearance of amyloid-β via its interaction with that molecule. An increase in misfolded amyloid-β is involved in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and seems likely to cause some fraction of the pathology of that condition. If comparatively simple approaches could keep amyloid-β levels low in later life, then the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease might be reduced. That said, while the mechanism described here is interesting, it doesn’t mean that the effect size, relative to other mechanisms involved in Alzheimer’s disease, will actually turn out to be large enough to care about. Finding out whether that is t…
The Ketone Body β-hydroxybutyrate is Involved in Clearance of Amyloid-β
Researchers here note an interesting role for one of the common ketone bodies found in mammalian biochemistry, in that it provokes clearance of amyloid-β via its interaction with that molecule. An increase in misfolded amyloid-β is involved in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and seems likely to cause some fraction of the pathology of that condition. If comparatively simple approaches could keep amyloid-β levels low in later life, then the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease might be reduced. That said, while the mechanism described here is interesting, it doesn’t mean that the effect size, relative to other mechanisms involved in Alzheimer’s disease, will actually turn out to be large enough to care about. Finding out whether that is t…