High metabolism is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease

Originally published by Anna Björklund on November 1, 2023

Photo: Getty Images

An early phase in the process of developing Alzheimer’s disease is a metabolic increase in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, report researchers from Karolinska Institutet in a study published in Molecular Psychiatry. The discovery opens up for new potential methods of early intervention.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and strikes about 20,000 people in Sweden every year. Researchers now show that a metabolic increase in the mitochondria, the cellular power plants, is an early indicator of the disease. 


Per Nilsson. Photo: Erik Cronberg

The teams behind the study used mice that developed Alzheimer’s disease pathology in a similar way to humans. The increase in metabolism in young mice was followed by synaptic changes caused by disruption to the cellular recycling system (a process known as autophagy), a finding that was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2016.

After a time, metabolism in the Alzheimer brain usually declines, which contributes to the degradation of synapses. This the researchers could also see in the older mice, which had had the disease for longer time.

“The disease starts to develop 20 years before the onset of symptoms, so it’s important to detect it early – especially given the retardant medicines that are starting to arrive,” says Per Nilsson, researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet. “Metabolic changes can be a diagnostic factor in this.”

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