Essential and sex-specific effects of mGluR5 in ventromedial hypothalamus regulating estrogen signaling and glucose balance.

ABSTRACT: The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) plays chief roles regulating energy and glucose homeostasis and is sexually dimorphic. We discovered that expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGluR5) in the VMH is regulated by caloric status in normal mice and reduced in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mutants, which are severely obese and have diminished glucose balance control. These findings led us to investigate whether mGluR5 might act downstream of BDNF to critically regulate VMH neuronal activity and metabolic function. We found that mGluR5 depletion in VMH SF1 neurons did not affect energy balance regulation. However, it significantly impaired insulin sensitivity, glycemic control, lipid metabolism, and sympathetic output in females but not in males. These sex-speci

SUBMITTER: Fagan MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7430975 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature