Leptin (Lep), an adipose-derived hormone, exerts very important functions in the body mainly on energy storage and availability. The physiological effects of Lep controlling the body weight and suppressing appetite are mediated by the long form of Lep receptor in the hypothalamus. Lep receptor activates several downstream molecules involved in key pathways related to cell survival such as STAT3, PI3K, MAPK, AMPK, CDK5 and GSK3b. Collectively, these pathways act in a coordinated manner and form a network that is fully involved in Lep physiological response. Although the major interest in Lep is related to its role in the regulation of energy balance, and since resistance to Lep affects is the primary risk factor for obesity, the interest on their effects on brain cognition and neuroprotection is increasing. Thus, Lep and Lep mimetic compounds now await and deserve systematic exploration as the orchestrator of protective responses in the nervous system. Moreover, Lep might promote the activation of a cognitive process that may retard or even partially reverse selected aspects of Alzheimer's disease or ageing memory loss.

No abstract

Melatonin has been shown to down-regulate inflammatory responses and provide neuroprotection. However, the mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory properties of melatonin are poorly understood. In the present work, we studied the modulatory effect of melatonin against pro-inflammatory cytokines in glial cell cultures. Treatment with pro-inflammatory cytokines mainly tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin 1-beta, and interferon-gamma induces an increase in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and nitric oxide (NO) production. Pre-treatment with melatonin produced an inhibitory effect on iNOS expression and NO production. The biochemical studies revealed that cytokine treatment favors the activation of several pathways, such as mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), STAT1, and STAT3; however, the anti-inflammatory effect of melatonin was accompanied only by a decrease in p38 MAPK activity. Likewise, SB203580 a p38 kinase inhibitor inhibits NO production. These data indicate that the anti-inflammatory action of melatonin in glial cells after stimulation with pro-inflammatory cytokines may be in part, attributable to p38 inhibition which down-regulates iNOS expression and NO production.

The more common sporadic form of Alzheimer disease (SAD) and the metabolic syndrome are two highly prevalent pathological conditions of Western society due to incorrect diet, lifestyle, and vascular risk factors. Due to the increasing aging of populations, prevalence of AD in western industrialized countries will rise in the near future and, thus, new knowledge in the area of molecular biology and epigenetics will probably help to reverse the neurodegenerative process. Recent data have suggested metabolic syndrome as an independent risk factor for SAD. Furthermore, biological plausibility for this relationship has been framed within the metabolic cognitive syndrome concept, and some authors designed SAD as a brain diabetes or diabetes 3. Then, impaired signaling of insulin and from some adipokines involved in the so called adipoinsular axis, like leptin, ghrelin or amylin could give a metabolic basis to explain the origin and progression of SAD. Thus, dipokines like leptin, ghrelin and amylin, or their mimetic compounds, could contribuite to inhibit apoptosis and inflammation processes and, thus, generate protective responses in the nervous system. Moreover, these adipokines might promote the activation of a cognitive process which may retard or even partially reverse selected aspects of Alzheimer's disease or ageing memory loss.

We suggest that Lep would act as an anti-inflammatory factor in glial cells exposed to pro-inflammatory cytokines, exerting its function on p38 MAPK pathway and reducing NO production.

Recent studies suggest that the neurobiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology could not be explained solely by an increase in beta-amyloid levels. In fact, success with potential therapeutic drugs that inhibit the generation of beta amyloid has been low. Therefore, due to therapeutic failure in recent years, the scientists are looking for alternative hypotheses to explain the causes of the disease and the cognitive loss. Accordingly, alternative hypothesis propose a link between AD and peripheral metabolic alteration. Then, we review in depth changes related to insulin signalling and energy metabolism in the context of the APPSwe/PS1dE9 (APP/PS1) mice model of AD. We show an integrated view of the changes that occur in the early stages of the amyloidogenic process in the APP/PS1 double transgenic mice model. These early changes affect several key metabolic processes related to glucose uptake and insulin signalling, cellular energy homeostasis, mitochondrial biogenesis and increased Tau phosphorylation by kinase molecules like mTOR and Cdk5.