Abstract
Decline in brain glucose metabolism is a hallmark of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD). Comprehensive understanding of the dynamic metabolic aging process in brain can provide insights into windows of opportunities to promote healthy brain aging. Chronological and endocrinological aging are associated with brain glucose hypometabolism and mitochondrial adaptations in female brain. Using a rat model recapitulating fundamental features of the human menopausal transition, results of transcriptomic analysis revealed stage-specific shifts in bioenergetic systems of biology that were paralleled by bioenergetic dysregulation in midlife aging female brain. Transcriptomic profiles were predictive of outcomes from unbiased, discovery-based metabolomic and lipidomic analyses, which revealed a dynamic adaptation of the aging female brain from glucose centric to utilization of auxiliary fuel sources that included amino acids, fatty acids, lipids, and ketone bodies. Coupling between brain and peripheral metabolic systems was dynamic and shifted from uncoupled to coupled under metabolic stress. Collectively, these data provide a detailed profile across transcriptomic and metabolomic systems underlying bioenergetic function in brain and its relationship to peripheral metabolic responses. Mechanistically, these data provide insights into the complex dynamics of chronological and endocrinological bioenergetic aging in female brain. Translationally, these findings are predictive of initiation of the prodromal / preclinical phase of LOAD for women in midlife and highlight therapeutic windows of opportunity to reduce the risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Highlights
IntroductionMitochondrial dysfunction, and reduced oxygen flow in the brain are considered primary risk factors for LOAD14–18
Brain glucose hypometabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction, and reduced oxygen flow in the brain are considered primary risk factors for LOAD14–18
Our previous research demonstrated that ketone bodies derived from brain lipids and white matter are utilized as an auxiliary fuel in the aging female brain in response to deficits in glucose metabolism[22,33]
Summary
Mitochondrial dysfunction, and reduced oxygen flow in the brain are considered primary risk factors for LOAD14–18. Brain utilizes glucose as its primary fuel source. The brain can adapt to utilize auxiliary fuel sources in response to an energy crisis. Our previous research demonstrated that ketone bodies derived from brain lipids and white matter are utilized as an auxiliary fuel in the aging female brain in response to deficits in glucose metabolism[22,33]. We describe the dynamic metabolic profile at each stage of midlife chronological and endocrinological aging (menopausal transition) in the female brain. Given the central role of mitochondria and electron transport chain (ETC) in brain bioenergetics, we investigated the transcriptome of both mitochondrial and nuclear encoded OXPHOS genes, followed by expression of key metabolic upstream regulators. We characterized the relationship between brain and peripheral metabolic and lipid profiles
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