Glyconutrients

A key event in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis is the conversion of the peptide beta-amyloid (Abeta) from its soluble monomeric form into various aggregated morphologies in the brain. Preventing aggregation of Abeta is being actively pursued as a primary therapeutic strategy for treating AD. T …

Parkinson's disease is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that is pathologically characterized by intracellular inclusions comprised primarily of alpha-synuclein (αSyn) that can also be transmitted from neuron to neuron. Several lines of evidence suggest that these inclusions cause neurodegen …

Zinc (Zn) deficiency is a clinical consequence of brain injury that can result in neuropathological outcomes that are exacerbated with age. Here, we present laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) imaging data showing modulation of brain Zn levels by the disaccharide trehalose

Methotrexate (MTX) is commonly used as a standard chemotherapy for many cancers, however its usage required high doses thereby leading to severe adverse effects. In a trial to find a suitable neoadjuvant therapy to decrease MTX dosage without lowering its chemotherapeutic efficacy, we investigated t …

Trehalose solution was an effective and safe eyedrop for the treatment of moderate to severe dry eye syndrome in this group of patients.

Trehalose is a natural disaccharide synthesized in various life forms, but not found in vertebrates. An increasing body of evidence demonstrates exceptional bioprotective characteristics of trehalose. This review discusses the scientific findings on potential ...

This study assessed the therapeutic utility of the autophagy enhancing stable disaccharide trehalose in the Tg2576 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) via an oral gavage of a 2% trehalose solution for 31 days. Furthermore, as AD is a neurodegenerative condition in which the transition …

This study assessed the therapeutic utility of the autophagy enhancing stable disaccharide trehalose in the Tg2576 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) via an oral gavage of a 2% trehalose solution for 31 days. Furthermore, as AD is a neurodegenerative condition in which the transition …

In this work we investigate the role of CHIP in a new CHIP-mutation related ataxia and the therapeutic potential of trehalose. The patient's fibroblasts with a new form of hereditary ataxia, related to STUB1 gene (CHIP) mutations, and three age and sex-matched controls were treated with epoxomicin a …

Traumatic brain Injury (TBI) is a significant cause of death and long-term disability for which there are currently no effective pharmacological treatment options. In this study then, we utilized a mouse model of TBI to assess the therapeutic potential of the stable disaccharide trehalose, which is …

Traumatic brain Injury (TBI) is a significant cause of death and long-term disability for which there are currently no effective pharmacological treatment options. In this study then, we utilized a mouse model of TBI to assess the therapeutic potential of the stable disaccharide trehalose, which is …

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is relatively prevalent among the Yemenite Jewish subpopulation living in Israel. Currently, there is no treatment able to modify the disease progression. Trehalose is a disaccharide with protein-stabilizing and autophagy-enhancing properties. In animal models of MJD, trehalose showed reduction of cerebellar lesion size and improved motor function. This study was designed to be a proof-of-concept, phase 2 study lasting 6 to 12 months, to determine the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of weekly IV administration of 15 g or 30 g 10% trehalose solution in 14 MJD patients. Primary endpoints were safety and tolerability, which were assessed by various clinical and laboratory tests. Secondary endpoints were changes in the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) score, Neurological Examination Score for Spinocerebellar Ataxia (NESSCA), time to do 9-hole peg test (9HPT), time to do 8-meter walk (8MW), and quality of life assessed by the World Health Organization Quality-of-Life Questionnaire-BREF (WHOQoL-BREF). Trehalose was well tolerated, and no serious drug-related adverse events were noted. The average SARA score, NESSCA, and time to do 9HPT and 8MW and the WHOQoL-BREF for all patients remained stable at 6 months. Six patients received treatment for as long as 12 months and continued to remain stable on all the above tests. IV trehalose seems to be safe in humans and probably effective to stabilize neurological impairment in MJD.

Trehalose, a disaccharide of glucose, is a naturally occurring nontoxic and nonreducing bioactive sugar. Trehalose is synthetized by many organisms when cells are exposed to stressful conditions, including dehydration, heat, oxidation, hypoxia or even anoxia. Although trehalose is not synthesized by …

The results suggest that trehalose may have antidepressant-like properties. It is hypothesized that these behavioral changes could be related to trehalose effects to enhance autophagy.

Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible and progressive brain disorder featured by the accumulation of Amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide, which forms insoluble assemblies that builds up into plaques resulting in cognitive decline and memory loss. The formation of fibrillar amyloid deposits is accompanied by con …

Our findings demonstrate that trehalose, functioning as an autophagy enhancer, suppresses the inflammatory response by promoting autophagic flux via TFEB activation in primary HCECs exposed to hyperosmotic stress, a process that is beneficial to dry eye.

(2017). Trehalose induces functionally active conformation in the intrinsically disordered N-terminal domain of glucocorticoid receptor. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics: Vol. 35, No. 10, pp. 2248-2256.

Cutaneous melanomas frequently metastasize to the brain, with temozolomide (TMZ) plus radiotherapy (RT) offering little control of these lesions. We tested whether trehalose, a natural glucose disaccharide proved to induce autophagy, could enhance the effect of TMZ and ionizing radiation (IR). In tw …

Trehalose, a natural disaccharide, inhibits short-term cell proliferation and, even more, colony-forming capacity in melanoma cells. Moreover, trehalose magnifies temozolomide (TMZ)- and irradiation ...

Autophagy is a catabolic process to maintain intracellular homeostasis via removal of cytoplasmic macromolecules and damaged cellular organelles through lysosome-mediated degradation. Trehalose is often regarded as an autophagy inducer, but we reported previously that it could prevent ischemic insul …

Autophagy is a highly conserved recycling pathway that promotes cell survival during periods of stress. We previously reported that induction of autophagy through the inhibition of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (MTOR) inhibits HIV replication in human macrophages and CD4+ T lymphocy …

Protein aggregation has been proved to be a pathological basis accounting for neuronal death caused by either transient global ischemia or oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD), and inhibition of protein aggregation is emerging as a potential strategy of preventing brain damage. Trehalose was found to inhibit protein aggregation caused by neurodegenerative diseases via induction of autophagy, whereas its effect is still elusive on ischemia-induced protein aggregation. In this study, we investigated this issue by using rat model of transient global ischemia and SH-SY5Y model of OGD. We found that pretreatment with trehalose inhibited transient global ischemia-induced neuronal death in the hippocampus CA1 neurons and OGD-induced death in SH-SY5Y cells, which was associated with inhibition of the formation of ubiquitin-labeled protein aggregates and preservation of proteasome activity. In vitro study showed that the protection of trehalose against OGD-induced cell death and protein aggregation in SH-SY5Y cells was reversed when proteasome activity was inhibited by MG-132. Further studies revealed that trehalose prevented OGD-induced reduction of proteasome activity via suppression of both oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress. Particularly, our results showed that trehalose inhibited OGD-induced autophagy. Therefore, we demonstrated that proteasome dysfunction contributed to protein aggregation caused by ischemic insults and trehalose prevented protein aggregation via preservation of proteasome activity, not via induction of autophagy.

The accumulation of lipids in hepatocytes that occurs in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can result in liver failure or liver cancer. Trehalose is a ubiquitous sugar that is present in the food consumed by animals. DeBosch et al . determined that trehalose blocked glucose uptake into cells by inhibiting glucose transporters in the plasma membrane, which induced a “starvation”-like response that activated autophagy even in the presence of adequate nutrients and glucose. Furthermore, providing trehalose to mice that are a model of NAFLD prevented lipid accumulation in the liver. As noted by Mardones et al . in the associated Focus, trehalose, which has been previously under investigation to treat neurodegenerative diseases characterized by toxic protein aggregates, may be a “silver bullet” for treating diseases resulting from inadequate cellular degradative metabolism. Trehalose is a naturally occurring disaccharide that has gained attention for its ability to induce cellular autophagy and mitigate diseases related to pathological protein aggregation. Despite decades of ubiquitous use as a nutraceutical, preservative, and humectant, its mechanism of action remains elusive. We showed that trehalose inhibited members of the SLC2A (also known as GLUT) family of glucose transporters. Trehalose-mediated inhibition of glucose transport induced AMPK (adenosine 5′-monophosphate–activated protein kinase)–dependent autophagy and regression of hepatic steatosis in vivo and a reduction in the accumulation of lipid droplets in primary murine hepatocyte cultures. Our data indicated that trehalose triggers beneficial cellular autophagy by inhibiting glucose transport.

Trehalose is a naturally occurring disaccharide that has gained attention for its ability to induce cellular autophagy and mitigate diseases related to pathological protein aggregation. Despite decades of ubiquitous use as a nutraceutical, preservative, and humectant, its mechanism of action remains …

The age-dependent loss of solubility and aggregation of crystallins constitute the pathological hallmarks of cataract. Several biochemical and biophysical factors are responsible for the reduction of crystallins’ solubility and formation of irreversible protein aggregates, which display amyloid-like characteristics. The present study reports the heat-induced aggregation of soluble proteins isolated from human cataract lenses and the formation of amyloid-like structures. Exposure of protein at 55 °C for 4 h resulted in extensive (≈ 60%) protein aggregation. The heat-induced protein aggregates displayed substantial (≈ 20 nm) redshift in the wavelength of maximum absorption (λmax) of Congo red (CR) and increase in Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence emission intensity, indicating the presence of amyloid-like structures in the heat-induced protein aggregates. Subsequently, the addition of trehalose resulted in substantial inhibition of heat-induced aggregation and the formation of amyloid-like structure. The ability of trehalose to inhibit the heat-induced aggregation was found to be linearly dependent upon its concentration used. The optimum effect was observed in the presence of 30–40% (w/v) trehalose where the aggregated was found to be reduced from 60 to 30%. The present study demonstrated the ability to trehalose to inhibit the protein aggregation and interfere with the formation of amyloid-like structures.

The accumulation of mis-folded and/or abnormally modified proteins is a major characteristic of many neurodegenerative diseases. In Lewy body disease (LBD), which includes Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, insoluble α-synuclein is widely deposited in the presynaptic terminals as wel …

Background Trehalose is a functional disaccharide that has anti-metabolic activities such as suppression of adipocyte hypertrophy in mice and alleviation of impaired glucose tolerance in humans. Trehalase hydrolyzes trehalose in the small intestine into two glucose molecules. In this study, we investigated whether trehalose can suppress adipocyte hypertrophy in mice in the presence or absence of trehalase. Methods Trehalase knockout (KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice were fed a high fat diet (HFD) and administered water with 0.3% (w/v) or without trehalose for 8 weeks. At the end of the experimental period, mesenteric adipose tissues and the small intestine were collected and the adipocyte size and proportion of cytoplasmic lipid droplets (CLDs, %) in jejunum epithelium were measured by image analysis. Results Trehalose treatment was associated with suppressed adipocyte hypertrophy in both trehalase KO and WT mice. The rate of CLDs in the jejunal epithelium was increased in both trehalase KO and WT mice given water containing trehalose relative to untreated control mice. There was a negative correlation between jejunal epithelial lipid droplet volume and mesenteric adipocyte size. Chylomicron-TG tended to be decreased in both trehalose-treated trehalase KO and WT mice. Addition of trehalose to differentiated Caco-2 cells in vitro increased intracytoplasmic lipid droplets and decreased secretion of the chylomicron marker ApoB-48. Moreover, the jejunal epithelium containing lipid droplets falled into the intestinal lumen, and triglyceride (TG) levels in feces tended to be higher in the KO/HFD/Tre group than in the KO/HFD/Water group. Since then, the accumulation of CLDs has been reported to suppress CM secretion, and along with our results, the effect of trehalose to increase jejunum CLDs may induce suppression of adipocyte hypertrophy. Conclusions The suppression of adipocyte hypertrophy in the presence and absence of trehalase indicates that trehalose mediates effects prior to being hydrolyzed into glucose. In both trehalase KO and WT mice, trehalose treatment increased the rate of CLDs in jejunal epithelium, reduced chylomicron migration from the intestinal epithelium to the periphery, and suppressed adipocyte hypertrophy. Thus, trehalose ingestion could prevent metabolic syndrome by trapping fat droplets in the intestinal epithelium and suppressing rapid increases in chylomicrons.