Insulin resistance and SIRT1 dysregulation in neurodegenerative diseases

Metabolic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome are increasing worldwide in parallel with neurodegenerative disorders, yet a unifying biological framework linking systemic metabolic dysfunction to progressive neuronal loss is still lacking. Existing models remain fragmented, focusing on disease-specific mechanisms rather than the shared metabolic vulnerability of the brain. Here, we propose an insulin resistance-Sirtuin 1 collapse axis as a unifying metabolic paradigm of neurodegenerative diseases. In this framework, chronic insulin resistance drives a decline in neuronal Sirtuin 1 activity, thereby impairing cellular energy sensing, stress adaptation, and inflammatory control. Sirtuin 1 dysfunction serves as a central metabolic regulator linking insulin resistance to mitochondrial failure, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation across neurodegenerative diseases. This paradigm reframes neurodegeneration as a brain-wide metabolic failure, with important implications for early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention using insulin-sensitising, Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide⁺ -restoring, and lifestyle-based strategies that are already clinically accessible. We argue that longitudinal validation of this axis using integrated multi-omics approaches and Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography imaging is essential to establish metabolic causality and enable preventive intervention before irreversible neuronal loss occurs.