Protective effects of intracerebroventricular adiponectin against olfactory impairments in an amyloid β rat model.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by cognitive impairment that eventually develops into dementia. Amyloid-beta (Aβ) accumulation is a widely described hallmark in AD, and has been reported to cause olfactory dysfunction, a condition considered an early marker of the disease associated with injuries in the olfactory bulb (OB), the hippocampus (HIPP) and other odor-related cortexes. Adiponectin (APN) is an adipokine with neuroprotective effects.