Carbohydrate Metabolism in Health and Diseases

Disruption of metabolic pathways that play a central role in the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins is responsible for several metabolic diseases, including hyperglycemia, which is characterized by increased blood glucose levels due to the dysregulation of carbohydrate hydrolysis. Chronic hyperglycemia causes several chemical modifications to nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids through a nonenzymatic process called glycation, leading to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs can promote oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis, which cause damage to tissues and muscles and contribute to several pathophysiological conditions, including retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Moreover, recent studies have also reported that carbohydrates are involved in the progression of hypercholesterolemia by influencing HMG-CoA reductase activity, which is a rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis. This chapter provides a basic concept of carbohydrate metabolism and AGEs formation, accumulation, and receptor interaction as well as their role in the progression of metabolic diseases.