glucose

Overview

Glucose is a simple sugar and one of the most important carbohydrates in biology. It serves as a primary energy source for cells and is central to carbohydrate metabolism, glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and broader metabolic regulation. In medical and biochemical contexts, glucose is also a key analyte because its uptake, release, and utilization reflect nutritional status, tissue metabolism, and disease-associated metabolic reprogramming.

Beyond its role as a circulating fuel, glucose is relevant in food science, plant biology, microbiology, and cancer research. It can influence taste quality in foods, support microbial and algal growth under experimental conditions, and participate in disease mechanisms involving altered glucose metabolism. Recent studies have also linked glucose-related metabolic changes to cancer immune resistance, glaucoma risk, and metabolic adaptation during caloric restriction and fasting-refeeding cycles.

Role in Recent Research

Recent publications have examined glucose in several distinct biological and applied contexts.

In food chemistry, glucose was reported as a major contributor to the sensory profile of “taste tomatoes.” These tomatoes were enriched in glucose, fructose, citric acid, malic acid, and umami Amino Acids such as glutamate, suggesting that glucose is part of a broader metabolite pattern associated with improved taste quality. This work linked glucose with flavoromics and metabolomics findings rather than with a disease mechanism.

In a study of cooked rice, glucose release was measured using a biomimetic mastication simulator and compared with in vivo bolus data. The reported glucose release was comparable between the simulated and real boluses, indicating that the simulator could reproduce physiologically relevant carbohydrate release behavior during mastication and digestion. This type of work is relevant to understanding starch breakdown and postprandial glucose availability, with amylase alpha 1C and mucin being among the biologically relevant components in such digestion-related systems.

Glucose was also investigated in microalgal biohydrogen production. In Chlorella sp., glucose addition substantially increased hydrogen production, with the highest yield observed at 15 g L⁻¹. This suggests that exogenous glucose can alter metabolic fluxes in biophotolysis-based systems and enhance energy production under the tested conditions.

In polysaccharide characterization, sequential extraction methods were used to study sea buckthorn pomace fractions. Some fractions were enriched in glucose and xylose, while others contained more galactose, arabinose, and rhamnose, indicating pectic contributions. Here, glucose served as a structural monosaccharide marker within complex polysaccharide mixtures rather than as a free metabolite.

A cancer immunology study identified KSR2 as a metabolic checkpoint in anti-PD-1 resistance by reprogramming glucose metabolism. The reported mechanism involved enhanced glucose uptake, potentiation of the Warburg effect, increased lactate accumulation, and disruption of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. This places glucose at the center of tumor metabolic remodeling and immune resistance, with direct relevance to PD-1/PD-L1 biology and associated immune cell states such as CD8+ S100B+ T cells and regulatory T cell dynamics in the tumor microenvironment.

In a preprint examining caloric restriction versus fasting-refeeding cycles, glucose metabolism was part of a broader anticipatory metabolic reprogramming response. Caloric restriction improved glucose and fatty acid metabolism, whereas fasting was associated with glucose intolerance and hepatic steatosis. These findings emphasize glucose as a key readout of systemic metabolic adaptation alongside fatty acid handling.

Finally, a Mendelian randomization study in glaucoma progression reported that glucose contributed to higher glaucoma risk, with mediation through increased aqueous humor production, elevated intraocular pressure, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and oxidative stress. This suggests a potential systemic metabolic contribution of glucose to ocular disease risk, extending its relevance beyond classical metabolic disorders.

Key Publications

May Distinct differences of taste quality and metabolite profile between taste tomatoes and ordinary tomatoes revealed by HS-SPME-GC-MS flavoromics and LC-MS metabolomics. (Food chemistry, 2026, PMID 41762560): "Taste tomatoes were enriched in glucose, fructose, citric acid, malic acid, and umami amino acids such as glutamate."
May Development and validation of a biomimetic mastication simulator for dynamic texture evaluation for cooked rice. (Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.), 2026, PMID 41794457): "...comparable glucose release between in vivo and in vitro boluses (14.91 vs 12.33 mmol/L)."
May Optimization of microalgal growth parameters for enhanced biohydrogen production via biophotolysis in Chlorella sp. (Biotechnology letters, 2026, PMID 42060146): "Glucose addition substantially increased hydrogen production, with the highest yield observed at 15 g L⁻1 (30 ppm)."
Apr Effect of Sequential Extraction Methods on the Structure and In Vitro Fermentation Characteristics of the Polysaccharides from Sea Buckthorn Pomace. (Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 2026, PMID 42003368): "SH1 and SH4 were enriched in glucose and xylose, whereas CA and SC contained more galactose, arabinose, and rhamnose, indicating they were pectic contributions."
Apr KSR2 functions as a metabolic checkpoint for anti-PD-1 resistance by reprogramming glucose metabolism. (Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII, 2026, PMID 42012646): "Mechanistically, KSR2 functions as a central metabolic checkpoint, driving profound glucose metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells by enhancing glucose uptake, potentiating the Warburg effect, promoting lactate accumulation, and disrupting the tricarboxylic acid cycle."
Apr Anticipatory metabolic reprogramming distinguishes caloric restriction from fasting-refeeding cycles. (bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2026, PMID 41889977): "In agreement with the expression data, CR improves glucose and fatty acid metabolism while fasting leads to glucose intolerance and fat accumulation in the liver induced glucose intolerance and hepatic steatosis."
Apr Unveiling Systemic Biomarkers and Metabolic Mechanisms in Glaucoma Progression from Multi-Omics Insights. (International journal of molecular sciences, 2026, PMID 41898707): "Conversely, glucose was found to contribute to high glaucoma risk (OR = 1.324, 95% CI: 1.143-1.533, p = 0.0002), mediated by increased aqueous humor production, elevated intraocular pressure, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and oxidative stress."