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Eating behavior in frontotemporal dementia: Peripheral hormones vs hypothalamic pathology
Ahmed RM, Latheef S, Bartley L, Irish M, Halliday GM, Kiernan MC, Hodges JR, Piguet O.. Neurology, 2015-09-16
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Objective To contrast the relationships of hormonal eating peptides and hypothalamic volumes to eating behavior and metabolic changes (body mass index [BMI]) in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA). Methods Seventy-five patients with dementia (19 bvFTD, 26 svPPA, and 30 Alzheimer disease dementia) and 23 controls underwent fasting blood analyses of leptin, ghrelin, cholecystokinin, peptide tyrosine tyrosine (PYY), and agouti-related peptide (AgRP) levels. On brain MRI anterior, posterior, and total hypothalamic volumes were measured. Relationships between endocrine measures, hypothalamic volumes, eating behaviors, and BMI were investigated. Results Levels of AgRP were higher in patients with bvFTD (69 ± 89 pg/mL) and svPPA (62 ± 81 pg/mL) compared with controls (23 ± 19 pg/mL, p Conclusion Eating abnormalities are multifactorial in FTD. In bvFTD, they are in part related to hypothalamic degeneration, with potential disintegration of the network connections between the hypothalamus and orbitofrontal cortex/reward pathways. In svPPA, although hypothalamic volumes are preserved, this group experiences elevated AgRP levels similar to bvFTD, which predicts BMI in both groups. This finding highlights the potential key role of AgRP in eating and metabolic changes and provides a potential target for treatment to modify disease progression.
Key findings
- Results Levels of AgRP were higher in patients with bvFTD (69 ± 89 pg/mL) and svPPA (62 ± 81 pg/mL) compared with controls (23 ± 19 pg/mL, p Conclusion Eating abnormalities are multifactorial in FTD.
Why it matters
This study compared eating hormones and hypothalamic volumes in people with frontotemporal dementia, semantic variant primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer disease. It is about eating behavior in these dementias, not about treating or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 43/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2015 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 81 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 6.2 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 8 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Olivier Piguet: h-index 76 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | The University of Sydney: institution h-index 1,466 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26377252) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 43 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000002018
- PubMed: 26377252
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 8 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Ahmed, R. M., Latheef, S., Bartley, L., Irish, M., Halliday, G. M., Kiernan, M. C., et al. (2015). Eating behavior in frontotemporal dementia: Peripheral hormones vs hypothalamic pathology. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000002018
Vancouver
Ahmed RM, Latheef S, Bartley L, Irish M, Halliday GM, Kiernan MC, et al. Eating behavior in frontotemporal dementia: Peripheral hormones vs hypothalamic pathology. Neurology. 2015. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000002018. PMID: 26377252.
BibTeX
@article{ahmed2015-26377252,
author = {Ahmed, R. M. and Latheef, S. and Bartley, L. and Irish, M. and Halliday, G. M. and Kiernan, M. C. and Hodges, JR. and Piguet, O.},
title = {{Eating behavior in frontotemporal dementia: Peripheral hormones vs hypothalamic pathology}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000002018},
pmid = {26377252},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000002018}
}
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