Oral prodrug of a novel glutathione surrogate reverses metabolic dysregulation and attenuates neurodegenerative process in APP/PS1 mice

Glycation-induced oxidative stress underlies the numerous metabolic ravages of Alzheimers disease (AD). Reduced glutathione levels in AD lead to increased oxidative stress, including glycation-induced pathology. Previously, we showed that the accumulation of reactive 1,2-dicarbonyls such as methylglyoxal, the major precursor of non-enzymatic glycation products, was reduced by the increased function of GSH-dependent glyoxalase-1 enzyme in the brain. In this two-pronged study, we evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of an orally bioavailable prodrug of our lead glyoxalase substrate, pro-{psi}-GSH, for the first time in a transgenic Alzheimers disease mouse model. This prodrug delivers pharmacodynamically relevant brain concentrations of {psi}-GSH upon oral delivery. Chronic oral dosing of pro-{psi}-GSH effectively reverses the cognitive decline observed in the APP/PS1 mouse model. The prodrug successfully mirrors the robust effects of the parent drug i.e., reducing amyloid pathology, glycation stress, neuroinflammation, and the resultant neurodegeneration in these mice. We also report the first metabolomics study of such a treatment, which yields key biomarkers linked to the reversal of AD-related metabolic dysregulation. Collectively, this study establishes pro-{psi}-GSH as a viable, disease-modifying therapy for AD and paves the way for further preclinical advancement of such therapeutics. Metabolomic signatures identified could prove beneficial in the development of treatment-specific clinically translatable biomarkers. ABSTRACT GRAPHIC O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=196 SRC="FIGDIR/small/633247v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (60K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@a9c2c0org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@130ed71org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@134a19corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@5e0f89_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG