The brain is emerging as an important regulator of systemic glucose metabolism. Accumulating data from animal and observational human studies suggest that striatal dopamine signaling plays a role in glucose regulation, but direct evidence in humans is currently lacking. The authors of this study present a series of experiments supporting the regulation of peripheral glucose metabolism by striatal dopamine signaling. First, they present the case of a diabetes patient who displayed strongly reduced insulin requirements after treatment with bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting the anterior limb of the internal capsule. Next, they show that DBS in this striatal area, which induced dopamine release, increased hepatic and peripheral insulin sensitivity in 14 nondiabetic patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Conversely, systemic dopamine depletion reduced peripheral insulin sensitivity in healthy subjects. Supporting these human data, they also demonstrate that optogenetic activation of dopamine D1 receptor-expressing neurons in the nucleus accumbens increased glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in mice. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that striatal neuronal activity regulates systemic glucose metabolism.
Ter Horst KW, Lammers NM, Trinko R, Opland DM, Figee M, Ackermans MT, Booij J, van den Munckhof P, Schuurman PR, Fliers E, Denys D, DiLeone RJ, la Fleur SE, Serlie MJ : Striatal dopamine regulates systemic glucose metabolism in humans and mice. Science Transl. Med. 10(442). pii: eaar3752. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aar3752; May 23, 2018.
