Go to The Journal of Clinical Investigation
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • All ...
  • Videos
  • Collections
    • Resource and Technical Advances
    • Clinical Medicine
    • Reviews
    • Editorials
    • Perspectives
    • Top read articles
  • JCI This Month
    • Current issue
    • Past issues

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • In-Press Preview
  • Concise Communication
  • Editorials
  • Viewpoint
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Blunted rise in brain glucose levels during hyperglycemia in adults with obesity and T2DM
Janice J. Hwang, … , Graeme Mason, Robert S. Sherwin
Janice J. Hwang, … , Graeme Mason, Robert S. Sherwin
Published October 19, 2017
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2017;2(20):e95913. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.95913.
View: Text | PDF
Research Article Endocrinology Neuroscience

Blunted rise in brain glucose levels during hyperglycemia in adults with obesity and T2DM

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

In rodent models, obesity and hyperglycemia alter cerebral glucose metabolism and glucose transport into the brain, resulting in disordered cerebral function as well as inappropriate responses to homeostatic and hedonic inputs. Whether similar findings are seen in the human brain remains unclear. In this study, 25 participants (9 healthy participants; 10 obese nondiabetic participants; and 6 poorly controlled, insulin- and metformin-treated type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) participants) underwent 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy scanning in the occipital lobe to measure the change in intracerebral glucose levels during a 2-hour hyperglycemic clamp (glucose ~220 mg/dl). The change in intracerebral glucose was significantly different across groups after controlling for age and sex, despite similar plasma glucose levels at baseline and during hyperglycemia. Compared with lean participants, brain glucose increments were lower in participants with obesity and T2DM. Furthermore, the change in brain glucose correlated inversely with plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels during hyperglycemia. These data suggest that obesity and poorly controlled T2DM progressively diminish brain glucose responses to hyperglycemia, which has important implications for understanding not only the altered feeding behavior, but also the adverse neurocognitive consequences associated with obesity and T2DM.

Authors

Janice J. Hwang, Lihong Jiang, Muhammad Hamza, Elizabeth Sanchez Rangel, Feng Dai, Renata Belfort-DeAguiar, Lisa Parikh, Brian B. Koo, Douglas L. Rothman, Graeme Mason, Robert S. Sherwin

×

Figure 2

Relationships between plasma free fatty acids and intracerebral glucose.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
Relationships between plasma free fatty acids and intracerebral glucose....
(A) Free fatty acid (FFA) levels at the end of the study (120 minutes). ANOVA followed by Fisher’s least significant difference test for pairwise comparisons. Data represent mean ± SEM. (B) FFA levels were log transformed and correlated using a Spearman’s correlation with average brain glucose levels at steady state (time 60–120 minutes). Of note, 11 participants (3 obese and 8 lean) had FFA levels below the detection limits of the assay.

Copyright © 2022 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN 2379-3708

Sign up for email alerts