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Is Alzheimer's a Type 3 Diabetes?
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Suzanne de la Monte led this live discussion on 25 March 2005. Readers are invited to submit additional comments by using our Comments form at the bottom of the page.
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 View Transcript of Live Discussion — Posted 22 August 2006
View Comments By:
Glyn Wainwright — Posted 17 February 2011
Background Text
This live discussion focuses on two articles appearing in the February 2005 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, in which Suzanne de la Monte and her colleagues review a substantial body of evidence implicating reduced glucose utilization and defects in energy metabolism as an early and possibly causal event in Alzheimer's disease. The authors note that the diverse pathologies seen in AD, including Aβ deposition, neurofibrillary tangles, dystrophic neurites, cell loss, activation of cell death pathways, impaired energy metabolism and chronic oxidative stress, have been difficult to link together in a convincing framework. The authors hypothesize that defects in the central nervous system's own insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling mechanisms play an early and central role, and provide a unifying explanation for the diverse and previously disconnected pathologies that characterize AD. They further argue that these defects are independent of peripheral mechanisms in diabetes mellitus, and therefore propose that AD may be viewed as a "type 3 diabetes".
Do you find the evidence solid, or are there important discrepancies with other data that need to be resolved? Is this hypothesis convincing, or are there other unifying viewpoints that you find more compelling? What exciting opportunities for new research does this hypothesis present? We urge Alzforum members to read the articles, and come with your questions, critiques and enthusiasms to join this provocative discussion. You can participate either by logging into the live chat on 25 March, or by posting questions and commentaries by email (send to junekino@alzforum.org). We thank IOS Press and The Gerontological Society of America for permission to provide full-text access to the following articles:
Steen E, Terry BM, J Rivera E, Cannon JL, Neely TR, Tavares R, Xu XJ, Wands JR, de la Monte SM. Impaired insulin and insulin-like growth factor expression and signaling mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease - is this type 3 diabetes?
J Alzheimer's Dis. 2005 Feb;7(1):63-80. See full text (.pdf).
de la Monte SM, Wands JR. Review of insulin and insulin-like growth factor expression, signaling, and malfunction in the central nervous system: Relevance to Alzheimer's disease. J Alzheimer's Dis. 2005 Feb;7(1):45-61. See full text (.pdf).
See also Addendum: Rasgon N, Jarvik L. Insulin resistance, affective disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease: review and hypothesis. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2004;59A:178–183. Full text (.pdf).
Copyright © The Gerontological Society of America. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.
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