Browsing by Author "Ishii, Douglas N., advisor"
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Item Open Access Insulin and IGF-I prevent brain atrophy in diabetic rats independently of hyperglycemia(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Šerbedžija, Predrag, author; Ishii, Douglas N., advisorThe causation of brain atrophy associated with dementia in diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is very poorly understood. There are 20.8 million patients in US with diabetes, 4.5 million with AD, and the incidence of both is rising. Their combined annual treatment cost (direct and indirect) for patients with dementia exceed $148 billion. Reduced insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling is a common biochemical feature in brains of diabetic as well as AD patients. Rodents with knockout of brain neuronal insulin receptor display no change in glucose utilization, neurodegeneration, nor impaired learning/memory. However, IGFs may substitute for insulin or be required for its activity. The literature is virtually silent concerning the role of the widespread insulin receptors in the brain. It is possible that brain atrophy is the consequence of a concomitant decline in IGF as well as insulin levels. The causation of adult brain atrophy is understudied, and identification of the factors that help maintain normal brain mass may provide hints as to the causation of neurodegenerative disorders.