Tricarboxylic acid cycle and related metabolites

The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle is

a series of reactions forming a loop that ultimately generate energy, mainly by oxidation of acetyl-CoA generated from glycolysis, and catabolism of fatty acids and amino acids. Studies on metabolomics involving Krebs cycle intermediates in relation to human health and disease usually include few patients and have been performed only recently. These metabolites have been related to BMI, cardiovascular disease (pyruvate, citrate, succinate), diabetes (pyruvate, isocitrate, succinate), NAFLD (isocitrate and citrate), longevity (isocitrate), asthma (succinate), disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis patients (itaconate), and worsening of clinical outcome in cancer patients (succinate, fumarate and α-hydroxyglutarate)