Background
Alzheimer’s disease, AD, AD pathologies
Epidemiological studies indicate that lifestyle factors, such as a healthy diet and physical activity, may reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [To unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying ameliorative effects of exercise in AD, studies utilizing the ADEX cohort assessed biomarkers for classic AD pathologies [Exercise can modulate brain function both directly, through increased blood flow and cellular respiration, and indirectly, through the release of exercise-induced cytokines, termed “exerkines”, that operate in an endocrine-like manner [To gain a window into the molecular changes induced by exercise in neurons, we leveraged circulating neuron-derived extracellular vesicles (NDEVs). Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid membrane-enclosed nanoparticles secreted by all cells and present in plasma. These nanoparticles carry variable cargo and play critical roles in inter-cellular communication [In this study, we hypothesized that neuronal effects of exercise may be reflected by increased NDEV levels of proBDNF, BDNF, and humanin and tested this hypothesis utilizing plasma samples from ADEX. To further explore whether putative exerkines mediate neuronal effects of exercise, we quantified NDEV levels of several candidates, especially irisin, and studied their associations with proBDNF, BDNF, and humanin.