| dc.description.abstract | Due to our rapidly aging population, 6.5 million Americans currently have Alzheimer's disease (AD), and this is predicted to increase to almost 14 million in the next 40 years. AD is currently the sixth leading cause of death in America and is characterized by memory and learning loss. There is currently no effective treatment for the pathology of AD, and several studies have begun to analyze different lifestyle choices that can potentially influence the onset of AD. One of these is the effect of diet on AD. AD is more prevalent in western societies, and researchers suggest that this may be due to the typical Western Diet (WD), also known as a "typical American Diet." In contrast, AD prevalence is lower in Mediterranean regions, where they consume a primarily plant-based diet known as the Mediterranean Diet (MED). This research looked to examine the neuroprotective potential of a Mediterranean Diet against AD pathologies and inflammation in mice, compared to mice that consume a Western Diet. Our lab designed two experimental rodent diets, one that mimicked a typical Western Diet, and another that mimicked a typical Mediterranean Diet. Using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, we examined the lifelong effects of diet on biological markers of AD, including amyloid beta, a protein that aggregates together to form plaques in the AD brain. A pro-inflammatory cytokine, which are associated with increased inflammation, called Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-) was also analyzed using a MSD Assay. We hypothesized that the consumption of a Western Diet has the potential to increase the development of these AD pathologies, compared to a Mediterranean Diet. | |
