A DISEASE-BASED PERSPECTIVE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NEUROINFLAMMATION AND IMPAIRED GLUCOSE METABOLISM

Neuroinflammation is a significant contributor to the pathogenesis of several central nervous system disorders including Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's Disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neuroinflammation is the immune response of the central nervous system against central or peripheral abnormalities disturbed by foreign agents, molecules, metabolic activities, or various diseases. Astrocytes and microglia activation are the main activators of neuroinflammation. The polarization changes of these defender cells have some key roles in bodily metabolism as much as neuronal behavior. The blood-brain barrier is known as the first defender of brain parenchyma. Neuroinflammation disrupts blood-brain barrier integrity and may cause blood-brain barrier breakdown. Glucose is the main energy source of brain and glucose uptake is achieved through the blood-brain barrier. Altered glucose metabolism may have detrimental effects on brain functions and may cause brain disorders. Also, it has been suggested that neuroinflammation may have crucial roles in glucose metabolism. The distribution of the blood-brain barrier in vascular endothelial cells of neurons, astrocytes, and microglia contributes to the transport of glucose to the cells of brain. Microglia and astrocyte polarization are suggested as the two main underlying mechanisms in neuroinflammation. It’s obviously determined that neuroinflammation-caused neurodegenerative diseases are tightly linked with the brain insulin resistance and disrupted cerebral and peripheral glucose metabolism. However, there is lacking knowledge about glucose metabolism deficiencies and microglia/astrocyte polarization. Herein this review, we summarized the neuroinflammation and glucose metabolism with the most common neurological diseases and the possible effects of microglia/astrocyte polarization on glucose metabolism.