Defects in cholesterol metabolism have been linked with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Now researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that diabetes can affect how much cholesterol the brain can make.

Scientists in the laboratory of C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., head of Joslin's Integrative Physiology and Metabolism research section, found that brain cholesterol synthesis, the only source of cholesterol for the brain, drops in several mouse models of diabetes. Their work was reported online in the journal Cell Metabolism on November 30.

"Since cholesterol is required by neurons to form synapses (connections) with other cells, this decrease in cholesterol could affect how nerves function for appetite regulation, behavior, memory and even pain and motor activity," says Dr. Kahn, who is also Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Thus, this has broad implications for people with diabetes." Other investigations have gathered strong evidence that people with diabetes may display varying types of alterations in brain function or ways of responding to stress, he points out.

(ScienceDaily)

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