Stress increases levels of circulating glucose and has been linked to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and mental disorders such as depression. However, whether stress-induced changes in glucose metabolism cause cognitive impairments, which are common in metabolic disorders, remains unclear.
Researchers found that chronic stress-induced increases in glucose levels impair spatial memory in mice. The authors induced chronic stress by exposing mice to aggressive encounters for 10 days. Compared with mice not exposed to social defeat, mice that experienced chronic stress had elevated glucose levels and impaired glucose metabolism peripherally as well as in the brain.
Moreover, socially defeated mice did not show the normal preference for the novel arm of a Y-maze, indicating spatial memory impairment. Treatment with the glucose-lowering diabetes drug empagliflozin improved spatial memory in 36% of susceptible mice that had high blood glucose levels 2 days after social defeat. Conversely, reducing glucose levels by empagliflozin in mice that did not display stress-induced hyperglycemia (resilient mice) impaired their default-intact spatial memory performance.
Together, the results suggest that blood glucose levels following stress could serve as a biomarker to determine individual stress vulnerability and predict the effectiveness of empagliflozin treatment.
According to the authors, the findings may explain why diabetes and depression often occur together, potentially opening avenues for early intervention and tailored treatment.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/10/08/1804412115
Latest News
Tumor infiltration of immun…
By newseditor
Posted 28 May
New light-controlled 'off s…
By newseditor
Posted 28 May
Gene function during embryo…
By newseditor
Posted 28 May
Formation of 3D blood vesse…
By newseditor
Posted 27 May
Liver regeneration during c…
By newseditor
Posted 27 May
Other Top Stories
3D mapping of extracellular pH of single living cells
Read more
Transporting large drug molecules into cells via nanoparticles
Read more
Why doesn't deep-brain stimulation work for everyone?
Read more
A method to watch neurons compute
Read more
Developing universal protein translocation system using bacterial t…
Read more
Protocols
SEMORE: SEgmentation and MO…
By newseditor
Posted 26 May
Spatially resolved lipidomi…
By newseditor
Posted 24 May
Efficient expansion and CRI…
By newseditor
Posted 21 May
Massively parallel in vivo…
By newseditor
Posted 20 May
Breast cancer-on-chip for p…
By newseditor
Posted 16 May
Publications
Circadian tumor infiltratio…
By newseditor
Posted 28 May
Kalium channelrhodopsins ef…
By newseditor
Posted 28 May
Double-duty isomerases: a c…
By newseditor
Posted 28 May
Signal switching may enhanc…
By newseditor
Posted 28 May
Emerging paradigms and rece…
By newseditor
Posted 28 May
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar