Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Feb 12, 2026 1 hour, 53 minutes ago
Medical News: A groundbreaking new study has mapped the complex fat molecules inside the human brain and uncovered distinct “lipid fingerprints” linked to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. The findings could pave the way for more accurate diagnosis and better monitoring of these devastating neurodegenerative disorders.
New research reveals distinct brain fat patterns that could help diagnose Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,
and Huntington’s disease with greater accuracy.
Researchers from the Graduate School of Global Food Resources and the Faculty of Health Sciences at Hokkaido University in Japan, the Frontier Research Center for Advanced Material and Life Science at Hokkaido University, and the Department of Medical Biochemistry at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia carried out one of the most comprehensive brain lipid studies to date.
Why Brain Fats Matter
Although often overlooked, fats—known scientifically as lipids—make up about half of the brain’s dry weight. They are essential for building cell membranes, supporting communication between brain cells, and maintaining overall brain health. When lipid balance is disrupted, neurons can malfunction and eventually die.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and Huntington’s disease (HD) are all marked by progressive brain cell loss. Yet diagnosing them accurately, especially in early stages, remains challenging. Most current tests rely on brain scans or protein markers, which can lack precision. This
Medical News report highlights how lipid profiling may offer a new and more refined approach.
A Detailed Look Inside the Brain
The team analyzed brain tissue from 24 healthy volunteers and 24 patients each with AD, PD, and HD. From every individual, samples were taken from four key brain regions: the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes. In total, 243 different lipid molecules across five major classes were identified using advanced liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry.
Statistical modeling clearly separated healthy brains from diseased ones based purely on lipid patterns. Parkinson’s disease showed the most striking overall difference, suggesting widespread lipid disruption.
Key Lipid Changes in Each Disease
In Alzheimer’s disease, several sphingomyelins and an oxidized lipid called PS (16:1/24:0;O1) were significantly increased. At the same time, certain lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC 17:2 and LPC 18:2) were reduced. The oxidized PS was especially elevated in the occipital lobe, pointing to localized oxidative damage. This supports growing evidence that lipid oxidation and iron-driven cell death processes may play central roles in Alzheimer’s progression.
Huntington’s disease showed a different pattern. Levels of PS (O-17:0/22:6)
and certain cholesterol esters rich in omega-6 fatty acids were increased, while protective phosphatidylinositol (PI) species were markedly decreased. Parkinson’s disease closely resembled Huntington’s in many respects, with overlapping lipid disruptions and significant drops in PI (18:1/18:1), a lipid involved in critical cell signaling pathways.
Powerful Diagnostic Potential
Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that three lipids stood out as especially promising biomarkers: PS (16:1/24:0;O1), PS (O-17:0/22:6), and PI (18:1/18:1). Some of these achieved very high diagnostic accuracy scores, particularly for Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Importantly, the parietal and occipital lobes consistently showed the strongest lipid disturbances across all three disorders. The researchers also found notable sex differences, with certain lipid changes more pronounced in women with Alzheimer’s disease.
What This Means for the Future
The study provides compelling evidence that each neurodegenerative disease carries a unique lipid signature, while also sharing certain overlapping disruptions. These patterns not only deepen scientific understanding of disease mechanisms but also open the door to more precise diagnostic tools.
In conclusion, the identification of disease-specific and region-specific lipid alterations represents a major advance in neurodegenerative research. By pinpointing measurable lipid biomarkers with strong diagnostic performance, the study lays essential groundwork for future blood or imaging-based lipid tests. Larger and long-term studies will be needed, but the potential to transform how dementia-related diseases are detected and monitored is both realistic and promising.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2026.1757306/full
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