Nov 28, 2025
3 min read
New research shows that young adults with obesity already exhibit biological patterns associated with liver stress, chronic inflammation and early neurological injury — changes common in older adults with cognitive impairment.
Summary - obesity in young adults. The biological patterns associated with liver disease and early nerve injury are commonly seen and poorly understood.People with obesity usually have low choline levels, liver function,
These low levels of choline were strongly associated with higher concentrations of neurofilament light chain, an early marker of neuronal damage.The findings show that metabolic stress and nutrient deprivation may shape the biological landscape of brain aging much earlier than expected.
- Low status reference: adults with obesity were very low in choline, associated with inflammation, liver stress and early nerve damage.
- Early brain stress: elevated neurofilament light chain suggests neuronal injury decades before cognitive symptoms usually appear.
- Metabolism-brain pathways: Reconstructing metabolism, inflammation, brain states, and interactions between brain states.
Source: Arizona State University
For decades, researchers have known that what's in the body is bad for the mind.
Conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure and insulin resistance put a strain on the body's circulatory and metabolic systems.Over time, this stress can accelerate cognitive decline and increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Now, Arizona State University researchers and their colleagues report that these effects may begin much sooner than expected.In young adults with obesity, the team identified biomarkers of inflammation, liver stress, and markers that indicate early damage to brain cells—subtle changes that mirror patterns also seen in older adults with cognitive impairment.
The study also highlights a surprising side finding: These young adults had abnormally low blood levels of choline, a nutrient and organic compound critical to liver function, inflammation control and long-term brain health.
“The research reinforces the growing opinion that choline is a valuable indicator of metabolic and brain dysfunction – and reinforces the importance of a sufficient daily intake, because it is essential for human health,” says RAMON VELAZQUEZ.
“Several new reports published this month link reduced blood choline levels to behavioral changes, including anxiety and memory impairment, as well as broader metabolic dysfunction.”
Professor Velázquez, who led the study, is a researcher at the ASU-Banner Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research.He joins ASU colleagues in the College of Life Sciences, Banner Sun Health Research Institute and researchers at the Mayo Clinic in AZ.
Findings are available in journals and diseases.
Early markers link obesity with brain health
Although obesity is known to increase the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, the study shows that obesity-related changes in the body also affect the brain early in adulthood.
Researchers have found high levels of proteins that are chronically affected and enzymes are damaged by liver stress and light chain (neural light chain).NFL levels were associated with lower levels of white blood cells at the age considered.
Elevated NfL is increasingly recognized as an early marker of neurodegeneration.It appears at a higher level in people with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.These symptoms seen in young adults are striking and suggest that obesity leaves measurable fingerprints on the brain long before the outward signs of the disease appear.
The results suggest that stress, inflammation and changes in the brain of non-Zaural people start earlier in the pathway.
Nutrition at the center of the puzzle
One of the study's most popular findings is that it is an essential nutrient for liver health, regulation of inflammation, cellular satisfaction, cellular management, and production of the neurotransmitter choline.
Obese participants had significantly lower levels of circulating choline, which was significantly associated with increased inflammation, insulin resistance, elevated liver enzymes, and NFL.
Choline is produced through food including liver, fish, beans and vegetables, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.If women are old.It is important to show that women have lower levels than men affected by Alzheimer's.
National meditation tests show that cohesiveness is underutilized by the majority of Americans, especially among youth and young adults.Most of the support has both elderly function and brain health, so building a brain will free more people with brain problems.
"Most people don't realize they are choline deficient," said Wendy Winslow, first author of the new study.
Nutritional risks with the next generation of weight loss drugs
A new generation of weight loss drugs has reshaped obesity treatment thanks to their powerful effects on body weight, metabolic function, and cardiovascular risk.
However, because GLP-1 drugs dramatically reduce caloric intake and change dietary patterns, people taking them may not get enough choline and other key nutrients, highlighting the need to consider taking supplements to support basic metabolism and brain health.
Future studies will determine whether glof-1 therapy with adequate dietary choline can help maintain metabolic flexibility or support general health.
How is the registration?
The study examined 30 adults, half of them young adults, and half of all adults in their 20s.Each participant participates in fasting, the researchers determined the circuit, and liver-related liver, liver measures, and liver light, NFL).
After comparing these measures between groups, the team found a clear pattern linking obesity to lower choline levels, higher inflammation, metabolic stress and early signs of neuronal damage.
To better understand the effect on the brain, the researchers compared these findings with choline and NFL levels in older adults with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease.
Similar relationships of low voiding with higher NFL were found in both groups.This suggests that some biological pathways may be active before symptoms, especially in individuals with obesity or metabolic stress.
Taken together, the findings point to a link between obesity, inflammation, choline status, and early neuronal stress. This relationship may help explain why metabolic disorders increase the risk of cognitive decline later in life.
While the study does not show causation, it does reveal a set of biomarkers that are consistent with patterns in older adults with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.This is also consistent with previous reports in mice showing that dietary choline deficiency in mice leads to obesity, metabolic dysfunction, and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.
“Our resolution states that youth, good health and health motivation are all about health.
Further research will clarify how early metabolic stress shapes long-term neurodegenerative risk, and may ultimately point to new ways to protect brain health decades before cognitive decline.
Answers to basic questions.
A:High inflammation, liver stress markers, low choline levels and early signs of nervous system damage.
A: Low blood choline levels are closely associated with early markers of inflammation, metabolic stress, and neurological damage.
A: Obesity can activate biological pathways associated with later cognitive impairment decades before symptoms appear.
- This article was edited by neurosCeance news editor.
- Journal articles are fully peer-reviewed.
- After the context added by our staff.
About this information on obesity and brain health
Author: Sandy Leander
Those: Arizona State University
Contact: Sandy Leander - Arizona State University
Image: In the image, neuro is attributed to the news of the two
Original research - Open access.
Ramón Velázquez et al.“Circulating choline deficiency in young adults with obesity is associated with metabolic impairment, inflammation, and high neurofilament light chain—factors associated with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
Reduced circulating choline in obese young adults is associated with metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, and increased neurofibrillary light chain—factors associated with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
Obesity rates are an important concern regarding aging and brain health.Obesity and widespread insulin resistance (IR) (ad) contribute to Alzheimer's disease (ad) and accelerate neurodegeneration.
Adequate choline intake can reduce obesity and obesity.But it's less than most people would like to suggest - the lack associated with advertising risk.
Here, we examined blood choline, a marker of metabolic dysfunction, inflammatory cytokines, and neurofilament light (NfL), a protein used as a prognostic marker of neurological damage, in young adult (33.6 years) participants with obesity (BMI > 30) compared with healthy BMI (18.5–24.9) controls.|
We also tested whether the density of the circulation of choline with tremors of patients and stage of neuritic neuritis and in the stage of neuritis neuritis, and severe advertising (neuritis) or severe advertising (neuritis), stage of Brers.
We found that obese participants showed a decrease in circulating choline, which was associated with a higher percentage of body fat, markers of liver dysfunction, increased IR, and increased inflammatory cytokines.NfL levels were increased in obese participants and negatively correlated with circulating choline levels, consistent with those observed in MCI and AD cases.
These results show the relationship between obesity, choline cholone, IR, systemic inflammation and risk indicators in the NFL-important ad.Monitoring of these indicators in the beginning of the population can help to assess the risk of future promotion of certain people who are prone to obesity.
