Lee Ming-Liang, Chang Ching-Pu, Toda Chitoku, Nemoto Tomomi, Enoki Ryosuke
Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems (ExCELLS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), Okazaki, Japan.
National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), Okazaki, Japan.
Nat Commun. 2025 Jul 10;16(1):6278. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-61499-2.
Glucose is a significant energy resource for maintaining physiological activities, including body temperature homeostasis, and glucose homeostasis is tightly regulated in mammals. Although ambient temperature tunes glucose metabolism to maintain euthermia, the significance of body temperature in metabolic regulation remains unclear owing to strict thermoregulation. Activation of Qrfp neurons in the preoptic area induced a harmless hypothermic state known as Q-neuron-induced hypothermia and hypometabolism (QIH), which is suitable for studying glucose metabolism under hypothermia. In this study, we observed that QIH mice had hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance. This glucose hypometabolic state was abolished by increasing the body temperature to euthermia. Moreover, QIH-mediated inappetence and locomotor inactivity were recovered in euthermia QIH mice. These results indicate that body temperature is considerably more powerful than ambient temperature in regulating glucose metabolism and behavior, and the glucose hypometabolism in QIH is secondary to hypothermia rather than modulated by Qrfp neurons.
葡萄糖是维持生理活动（包括体温稳态）的重要能量来源，在哺乳动物中，葡萄糖稳态受到严格调控。尽管环境温度会调节葡萄糖代谢以维持正常体温，但由于严格的体温调节，体温在代谢调节中的重要性仍不清楚。视前区Qrfp神经元的激活会诱导一种无害的低温状态，称为Q神经元诱导的低温和低代谢（QIH），这适合于研究低温下的葡萄糖代谢。在本研究中，我们观察到QIH小鼠存在高胰岛素血症和胰岛素抵抗。通过将体温升高至正常体温，这种葡萄糖低代谢状态被消除。此外，正常体温的QIH小鼠中，QIH介导的食欲不振和运动不活跃得到恢复。这些结果表明，在调节葡萄糖代谢和行为方面，体温比环境温度的作用要大得多，并且QIH中的葡萄糖低代谢是低温的继发结果，而非由Qrfp神经元调节。
