Metabolic network changes that are strongly associated with Dementia Lewy Body determined through signed distance and partial correlation analysis

INTRODUCTION Determining significant metabolic changes in Dementia with Lewy Body (DLB), a complex and multifactorial neurodegenerative disease, requires, in addition to the analysis of concentration changes, a deep understanding of functional changes in the context of metabolic networks. METHODS Brain metabolomics data from DLB patients and controls was analysed using novel approaches to determine metabolites with the largest changes in their network in DLB. Signed distance correlation (SiDCo) method is provided at: http://complimet.ca/SiDCo RESULTS Novel clustering and correlation network analysis shows major change in the metabolic network in DLB brain relative to matching controls with the largest interaction network alterations for fructose, propylene-glycol, pantothenate and O-acetylcarnitine in spite of no statistically significant change in their concentrations. DISCUSSION Network and correlation analyses indicate major changes in the purine degradation pathway, propanoate and -alanine metabolism as well as an increased role of fructose and reduced significance of glucose in DLB affected brain.