Background: The escalating global prevalence of cognitive decline associated with obesity represents a significant public health challenge. Emerging evidence implicates astrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles (ADEVs) as key mediators in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disease, positioning them as potential therapeutic targets. However, the precise mechanistic role of ADEVs in the pathological processes underlying obesity-related cognitive impairment remains poorly understood.
Methods: We established an obese mouse model by feeding mice a 60% high-fat diet (HFD) and assessed cognitive function through a series of behavioral tests. To investigate the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs), we inhibited EVs secretion by intraperitoneally administering GW4869, a neutral sphingomyelinase-2 (nSMase2) inhibitor, to 12-week HFD-fed male mice. Using comprehensive proteomic sequencing of brain-derived EVs, we identified NFIA as a potentially candidate protein. A series of in vivo and in vitro experiments were then conducted to confirmed the astrocytic origin of NFIA and neuronal uptake of ADEVs. Further, ADEVs isolated from primary cultured astrocytes under high glucose conditions were administered to both wild-type mice and primary cultured neurons to demonstrate their mediating role. Additionally, we developed adeno-associated virus (AAV) constructs to specifically knockdown the target gene Nfia of astrocyte to validate these findings.
Results: Following 16 weeks of HFD feeding, obese mice exhibited significant cognitive impairment, which was significantly alleviated by GW4869 administration through inhibition of ceramide-dependent EVs secretion. Proteomic analysis revealed a marked upregulation of NFIA protein in brain-derived EVs from obese mice, with astrocytes identified as the predominant cellular origin. ADEVs containing NFIA has been found to specifically accumulated in the hippocampal neurons both in vivo and in vitro. As expected, ADEVs isolated from high glucose-treated primary astrocytes induced substantial cognitive decline in healthy adult mice and caused synaptic injury in primary cultured neurons. Of note, astrocyte-specific knockdown of the Nfia gene resulted in improved synaptic function and ameliorated cognitive impairment in obese mice.
Conclusions: These findings demonstrated that elevated levels of NFIA packaged within ADEVs contributed to hippocampal synaptic injury under obesity-induced stress condition. The mechanistic insight may provide potential therapeutic targets for addressing obesity-related cognitive decline.
Keywords: Astrocytes; Cognitive impairment; Extracellular vesicles; NFIA; Obesity; Synaptic injury.
© 2025. The Author(s).