Liraglutide modulates appetite and body weight through glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor–expressing glutamatergic neurons

JM Adams, H Pei, DA Sandoval, RJ Seeley… - Diabetes, 2018 - Am Diabetes Assoc
JM Adams, H Pei, DA Sandoval, RJ Seeley, RB Chang, SD Liberles, DP Olson
Diabetes, 2018Am Diabetes Assoc
Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists are US Food and Drug Administration–
approved weight loss drugs. Despite their widespread use, the sites of action through which
GLP-1R agonists (GLP1RAs) affect appetite and body weight are still not fully understood.
We determined whether GLP-1Rs in either GABAergic or glutamatergic neurons are
necessary for the short-and long-term effects of the GLP1RA liraglutide on food intake,
visceral illness, body weight, and neural network activation. We found that mice lacking GLP …
Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists are U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved weight loss drugs. Despite their widespread use, the sites of action through which GLP-1R agonists (GLP1RAs) affect appetite and body weight are still not fully understood. We determined whether GLP-1Rs in either GABAergic or glutamatergic neurons are necessary for the short- and long-term effects of the GLP1RA liraglutide on food intake, visceral illness, body weight, and neural network activation. We found that mice lacking GLP-1Rs in vGAT-expressing GABAergic neurons responded identically to controls in all parameters measured, whereas deletion of GLP-1Rs in vGlut2-expressing glutamatergic neurons eliminated liraglutide-induced weight loss and visceral illness and severely attenuated its effects on feeding. Concomitantly, deletion of GLP-1Rs from glutamatergic neurons completely abolished the neural network activation observed after liraglutide administration. We conclude that liraglutide activates a dispersed but discrete neural network to mediate its physiological effects and that these effects require GLP-1R expression on glutamatergic but not GABAergic neurons.
Am Diabetes Assoc