Using trehalose to prevent and treat metabolic function: effectiveness and mechanisms

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Metabolic disease research
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Trehalose, a disaccharide, has diverse industrial and biomedical applications.
• Recent research has focused on trehalose as an autophagy-inducing agent for metabolic diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advances in trehalose's effectiveness and mechanisms in metabolic disease.
• To discuss the potential of trehalose and its analogues as clinical therapeutics.

Main Methods:

• Review of preclinical and clinical studies on trehalose in metabolic disease models.
• Analysis of trehalose's mechanisms of action, including autophagy and transcription factor EB activation.

Main Results:

• Trehalose reduced cardiometabolic disease burden in models of atherosclerosis, dyslipidemia, hepatic steatosis, and impaired glucose/insulin tolerance.
• Observed mechanisms were pleiotropic, involving fasting-like processes like autophagic flux and transcription factor EB.
• Efficacy is influenced by administration route, disease context, and host/microbial trehalase activity.

Conclusions:

• Trehalose and its analogues are promising cardiometabolic therapeutics with broad efficacy.
• The complex mechanisms underlying trehalose's metabolic modulation are still being uncovered.