Molecular Mechanisms and Treatment Strategies in Metabolic Syndromes and Neurological Disorders

Dear Colleagues,

Metabolic syndromes and neurological disorders represent two of the most pressing health issues of our time. Individually, they impose immense social and economic burdens, but mounting evidence also underscores their deep interconnection. Neurological function is tightly coupled with metabolic status: glucose and lipid homeostasis, mitochondrial function, and systemic energy balance directly influence neuronal survival, synaptic activity, and cognitive resilience. Conversely, disruptions to the nervous system can exacerbate metabolic imbalance through neuroinflammation, impaired signaling, and autonomic dysfunction.

The mechanisms underlying these disorders are complex and multifactorial. Genetic predisposition, epigenetic programming, and environmental factors converge in cellular pathways involving oxidative stress, mitochondrial dynamics, protein misfolding, autophagy, phagocytosis, and inflammatory polarization. All of these contribute not only to classical neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, and brain injury but also to the neurological manifestations of obesity, diabetes, infection, the gut microbiota, osteoporosis, renal injury, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and other metabolic syndromes. Increasingly, shared mechanisms are being recognized across these disease classes, highlighting common therapeutic entry points.

Treatment strategies are evolving accordingly. Beyond symptomatic relief, current approaches are designed to modulate core pathogenic pathways. Small-molecule drugs targeting mitochondrial metabolism, insulin signaling, or neuroinflammation are being tested alongside biologics such as antibodies, antisense oligonucleotides, and gene therapies. Lifestyle interventions—nutritional modulation, exercise, and circadian rhythm optimization—continue to show promise both in prevention and as adjunct therapies. Novel platforms, including stem-cell-based replacement, precision epigenetic editing, and systems biology-guided personalized medicine, are opening up new horizons for intervention. Moreover, systems biology-guided drug combinations are allowing us to address the limitations of traditional reductionist strategies by targeting parallel pathways within disease networks. Acting on multiple nodes simultaneously, these therapies can restore balance to disrupted systems, improve efficacy, lower required dosages, and reduce resistance. These approaches highlight the transition toward precision medicine, where computational predictions and experimental validation converge to deliver tailored, multi-targeted interventions.

The aim of this Special Issue is to showcase research articles and reviews that illuminate the molecular and cellular mechanisms linking neurological disorders and metabolic syndromes and to highlight emerging treatment strategies grounded in these insights. By bringing together diverse perspectives, we hope to provide a reference for experts in the field, as well as for researchers who are first entering this rapidly expanding and interdisciplinary area of biomedical science.

Dr. Shaohua Qi
Prof. Dr. George Augustine
Guest Editors

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