System biology approach intersecting diet and cell metabolism with pathogenesis of brain disorders

Influence of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation on Nutritional Status and Neural Plasticity: New Perspectives on Post-Stroke Neurorehabilitative Outcome

Beyond brain deficits caused by strokes, the effectiveness of neurorehabilitation is strongly influenced by the baseline clinical features of stroke patients, including a patient's current nutritional status. Malnutrition, either as a pre-stroke existing condition or occurring because of ischemic injury, predisposes patients to poor rehabilitation outcomes. On the other hand, a proper nutritional status compliant with the specific needs required by the process of brain recovery plays a key role in post-stroke rehabilitative outcome favoring neuroplasticity mechanisms. Oxidative stress and inflammation play a role in stroke-associated malnutrition, as well as in the cascade of ischemic events in the brain area, where ischemic damage leads to neuronal death and brain infarction, and, via cell-to-cell signaling, the alteration of neuroplasticity processes underlying functional recovery induced by multidisciplinary rehabilitative treatment. Nutrition strategies based on food components with oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties may help to reverse or stop malnutrition and may be a prerequisite for supporting the ability of neuronal plasticity to result in satisfactory rehabilitative outcome in stroke patients. To expand nutritional recommendations for functional rehabilitation recovery, studies considering the evolution of nutritional status changes in post-stroke patients over time are required. The assessment of nutritional status must be included as a routine tool in rehabilitation settings for the integrated care of stroke-patients.

Dietary fructose as a model to explore the influence of peripheral metabolism on brain function and plasticity

High consumption of fructose has paralleled an explosion in metabolic disorders including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Even more problematic, sustained consumption of fructose is perceived as a threat for brain function and development of neurological disorders. The action of fructose on peripheral organs is an excellent model to understand how systemic physiology impacts the brain. Given the recognized action of fructose on liver metabolism, here we discuss mechanisms by which fructose can impact the brain by interacting with liver and other organs. The interaction between peripheral and central mechanisms is a suitable target to reduce the pathophysiological consequences of neurological disorders.

Diet and depression: exploring the biological mechanisms of action

The field of nutritional psychiatry has generated observational and efficacy data supporting a role for healthy dietary patterns in depression onset and symptom management. To guide future clinical trials and targeted dietary therapies, this review provides an overview of what is currently known regarding underlying mechanisms of action by which diet may influence mental and brain health. The mechanisms of action associating diet with health outcomes are complex, multifaceted, interacting, and not restricted to any one biological pathway. Numerous pathways were identified through which diet could plausibly affect mental health. These include modulation of pathways involved in inflammation, oxidative stress, epigenetics, mitochondrial dysfunction, the gut microbiota, tryptophan-kynurenine metabolism, the HPA axis, neurogenesis and BDNF, epigenetics, and obesity. However, the nascent nature of the nutritional psychiatry field to date means that the existing literature identified in this review is largely comprised of preclinical animal studies. To fully identify and elucidate complex mechanisms of action, intervention studies that assess markers related to these pathways within clinically diagnosed human populations are needed.

Cerebral Fructose Metabolism as a Potential Mechanism Driving Alzheimer's Disease

The loss of cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease is pathologically linked with neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid deposition, and loss of neuronal communication. Cerebral insulin resistance and mitochondrial dysfunction have emerged as important contributors to pathogenesis supporting our hypothesis that cerebral fructose metabolism is a key initiating pathway for Alzheimer's disease. Fructose is unique among nutrients because it activates a survival pathway to protect animals from starvation by lowering energy in cells in association with adenosine monophosphate degradation to uric acid. The fall in energy from fructose metabolism stimulates foraging and food intake while reducing energy and oxygen needs by decreasing mitochondrial function, stimulating glycolysis, and inducing insulin resistance. When fructose metabolism is overactivated systemically, such as from excessive fructose intake, this can lead to obesity and diabetes. Herein, we present evidence that Alzheimer's disease may be driven by overactivation of cerebral fructose metabolism, in which the source of fructose is largely from endogenous production in the brain. Thus, the reduction in mitochondrial energy production is hampered by neuronal glycolysis that is inadequate, resulting in progressive loss of cerebral energy levels required for neurons to remain functional and viable. In essence, we propose that Alzheimer's disease is a modern disease driven by changes in dietary lifestyle in which fructose can disrupt cerebral metabolism and neuronal function. Inhibition of intracerebral fructose metabolism could provide a novel way to prevent and treat this disease.

Cerebrolysin in the therapy of mild cognitive impairment and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease: 30 years of clinical use

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurocognitive disorder and a global health problem. The prevalence of AD is growing dramatically, especially in low- and middle-income countries, and will reach 131.5 million cases worldwide by 2050. Therefore, developing a disease-modifying therapy capable of delaying or even preventing the onset and progression of AD has become a world priority, and is an unmet need. The pathogenesis of AD, considered as the result of an imbalance between resilience and risk factors, begins many years before the typical clinical picture develops and involves multiple pathophysiological mechanisms. Since the pathophysiology of AD is multifactorial, it is not surprising that all attempts done to modify the disease course with drugs directed towards a single therapeutic target have been unsuccessful. Thus, combined modality therapy, using multiple drugs with a single mechanism of action or multi-target drugs, appears as the most promising strategy for both effective AD therapy and prevention. Cerebrolysin, acting as a multitarget peptidergic drug with a neurotrophic mode of action, exerts long-lasting therapeutic effects on AD that could reflect its potential utility for disease modification. Clinical trials demonstrated that Cerebrolysin is safe and efficacious in the treatment of AD, and may enhance and prolong the efficacy of cholinergic drugs, particularly in moderate to advanced AD patients. In this review, we summarize advances of therapeutic relevance in the pathogenesis and the biomarkers of AD, paying special attention to neurotrophic factors, and present results of preclinical and clinical investigations with Cerebrolysin in AD.

Making sense of gut feelings in the traumatic brain injury pathogenesis

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a devastating condition which often initiates a sequel of neurological disorders that can last throughout lifespan. From metabolic perspective, TBI also compromises systemic physiology including the function of body organs with subsequent malfunctions in metabolism. The emerging panorama is that the effects of TBI on the periphery strike back on the brain and exacerbate the overall TBI pathogenesis. An increasing number of clinical reports are alarming to show that metabolic dysfunction is associated with incidence of long-term neurological and psychiatric disorders. The autonomic nervous system, associated hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and the immune system are at the center of the interface between brain and body and are central to the regulation of overall homeostasis and disease. We review the strong association between mechanisms that regulate cell metabolism and inflammation which has important clinical implications for the communication between body and brain. We also discuss the integrative actions of lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise on promoting brain and body health and cognition after TBI.