Characterizing Alzheimer's disease through metabolomics and investigating anti‐Alzheimer's disease effects of natural products

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in elderly people and is among the greatest healthcare challenges of the 21st century. However, the etiology and pathogenesis of AD remain poorly understood, and no curative treatments are available to slow down or stop the degenerative effects of AD. As a high-throughput approach, metabolomics is gaining significant attention in AD research, because it has a powerful potential to discover novel biomarkers, unravel new therapeutic targets for AD, and identify perturbed metabolic pathways involved in AD progression. Here, we systematically review metabolomics with regard to its recent advances and applications in the identification of potential biomarkers for early AD diagnosis and pathogenesis research. In addition, we illustrate the developments in metabolomics as an effective tool for understanding the anti-AD mechanisms of natural products. We believe that the insights from these advances can narrow the gap between metabolomics research and clinical applications of laboratory findings. Moreover, we discuss some limitations and perspectives of biomarker identification in metabolomics.

Metabolic Pathways of the Warburg Effect in Health and Disease: Perspectives of Choice, Chain or Chance

“…A possible therapeutic solution might be the use of Nrf2 activators, such as dimethyl fumarate and sulforaphane, for enhancing the endogenous antioxidant protection against the oxidative pressure of galactic cosmic radiation [ 164 ]. Quantitative analysis of low-molecular mass endogenous metabolites is becoming ever-more achievable with modern analytical techniques that are well-suited to complex pathologies [ 165 ]. It is anticipated that space exploration will continue to be a major stimulus for advancing our understanding of human metabolism [ 166 ] and reciprocate with unique experiments that extend our capacity to overcome even the most challenging complex human diseases and environmental pressures.…”

Anti-Oxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Ketogenic Diet: New Perspectives for Neuroprotection in Alzheimer’s Disease

“…The proved effectiveness of the ketogenic diet in childhood refractory epilepsy and the early metabolic dysfunction observed in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which usually precedes the onset of AD, paved the way to evaluate the possible therapeutic role of dietary metabolic approaches to AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. The brain hypometabolism was associated to a reduced glucose utilization, detected by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), but several alteration in amino acids and lipids metabolic pathways have been recently identified through modern metabolomics techniques [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ].…”

Altered Plasma Acylcarnitines and Amino Acids Profile in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 7

“…Metabolomics profiling is a promising strategy for identifying relevant metabolites/biomarkers in neurodegenerative pathologies [32,33]. Since the current evaluation of SCA7 patients is based on Brief Ataxia Rating Scale (BARS), SARA, and INAS scores [3], time-consuming analyses that require extensive examiner training to avoid bias, identification of sensitive biomarkers will surely improve the clinical management of these patients.…”