Future studies can use these methods to examine insulin, adiponectin, and leptin metabolic dysregulation in aging and disease states, such as type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias.
Studies suggest that leptin, an adipokine, has a neuroprotective role against Alzheimer's disease (AD) and that cytokines are associated with inflammatory processes and dementia.
In addition to this evidence linking leptin to neural plasticity and function, observational studies evaluating leptin-sufficient humans have also demonstrated direct correlation between blood leptin levels and brain volume and inverse associations between circulating leptin and risk for the development of dementia.