Publications by authors named "T Duraj"

Article Synopsis
  • Glioblastoma (GBM) is the deadliest brain tumor in adults, and current therapies are largely ineffective, which drives the need for new treatment strategies based on the tumor's metabolic needs, specifically glucose and glutamine.
  • A ketogenic metabolic therapy (KMT) approach targets these metabolic pathways by combining dietary changes with specific drugs to limit glycolysis and glutaminolysis, while promoting the use of non-fermentable fuels like ketones and fatty acids.
  • The glucose-ketone index (GKI) serves as a biomarker to monitor treatment effectiveness, aiming to create a more hostile environment for tumor growth and improve outcomes in GBM as well as potentially other cancer types reliant on similar metabolic pathways.
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Energy is necessary for tumor cell viability and growth. Aerobic glucose-driven lactic acid fermentation is a common metabolic phenotype seen in most cancers including malignant gliomas. This metabolic phenotype is linked to abnormalities in mitochondrial structure and function.

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Most studies on ketosis have focused on short-term effects, male athletes, or weight loss. Hereby, we studied the effects of short-term ketosis suppression in healthy women on long-standing ketosis. Ten lean (BMI 20.

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Article Synopsis
  • Glioblastoma (GBM) relies on fermentation metabolism for energy and growth, primarily using glucose and glutamine as fuels while exhibiting mitochondrial defects.
  • The fermentation process produces acidic waste products like lactic acid, contributing to drug resistance, tumor invasion, and metastasis, despite existing treatments often exacerbating the acidic microenvironment.
  • Restricting glucose and glutamine while increasing non-fermentable ketone bodies may rebalance the microenvironment’s pH and prevent tumor growth in a non-toxic way.
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Background: Aberrant metabolism is recognized as a hallmark of cancer, a pillar necessary for cellular proliferation. Regarding bioenergetics (ATP generation), most cancers display a preference not only toward aerobic glycolysis ("Warburg effect") and glutaminolysis (mitochondrial substrate level-phosphorylation) but also toward other metabolites such as lactate, pyruvate, and fat-derived sources. These secondary metabolites can assist in proliferation but cannot fully cover ATP demands.

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