Reduced glucose-induced neuronal activation in the hypothalamus of diet-induced obese rats

Rats predisposed to develop diet-induced obesity (DIO) preferentially activate their sympathetic nervous system during intracarotid glucose infusion [B.E. Levin, Intracarotid glucose-induced norepinephrine response and the development of diet-induced obesity, Int. J. Obesity 16 (1992) 451-457.] but their brains are generally less responsive to glucose than diet-resistant rats (DR) [B.E. Levin, K.L. Brown, A.A. Dunn-Meynell, Differential effects of diet and obesity on high and low affinity sulfonylurea binding sites in the rat brain, Brain Res. 739 (1996) 293-300.; B.E. Levin, B. Planas, Defective glucoregulation of brain alpha2-adrenoceptors in obesity-prone rats, Am. J. Physiol. 264 (1993) R305-R311.; B.E. Levin, A.C. Sullivan, Glucose-induced norepinephrine levels and obesity resistance, Am. J. Physiol. 253 (1987) R475-R481.; B.E. Levin, A.C. Sullivan, Glucose-induced sympathetic activation in obesity-prone and resistant rats, Int. J. Obesity 13 (1989) 235-246.]. Here, 1 h intracarotid glucose infusions (4 mg/kg/min) selectively increased Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLIR) in the hypothalamic paraventricular, ventromedial, dorsomedial and arcuate nuclei of inbred DR but not DIO rats. This suggests that enhanced glucose-induced sympathetic activation in DIO rats is related to a failure of glucose to produce neuronal activation in these areas.