Metabolomics-based promising candidate biomarkers and pathways in Alzheimer's disease

Pathologically, loss of synapses and neurons, extracellular senile plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are observed in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). These features are associated with changes Aβ (amyloid β) 40, Aβ42, total tau and phosphorylated tau (p-tau), which are as definitely biomarkers for severe AD state. However, biomarkers for effectively diagnosing AD in the pre-clinical state for directing therapeutic strategies are lacking. Metabolic profiling as a powerful tool to identify new biomarkers is receiving increasing attention in AD. This review will focus on metabolomics-based detection of promising candidate biomarkers and pathways in AD to facilitate the discovery of new medicines and disease pathways.