Light modulates glucose metabolism by a retina-hypothalamus-brown adipose tissue axis.

Abstract

Public health studies indicate that artificial light is a high-risk factor for metabolic disorders. However, the neural mechanism underlying metabolic modulation by light remains elusive. Here, we found that light can acutely decrease glucose tolerance (GT) in mice by activation of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) innervating the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus (SON). Vasopressin neurons in the SON project to the paraventricular nucleus, then to the GABAergic neurons in the solitary tract nucleus, and eventually to brown adipose tissue (BAT). Light activation of this neural circuit directly blocks adaptive thermogenesis in BAT, thereby decreasing GT. In humans, light also modulates GT at the temperature where BAT is active. Thus, our work unveils a retina-SON-BAT axis that mediates the effect of light on glucose metabolism, which may explain the connection between artificial light and metabolic dysregulation, suggesting a potential prevention and treatment strategy for managing glucose metabolic disorders.

• Authors: Jian-Jun Meng, Jia-Wei Shen, Guang Li, Chang-Jie Ouyang, Jia-Xi Hu, Zi-Shuo Li, Hang Zhao, Yi-Ming Shi, Mei Zhang, Rong Liu, Ju-Tao Chen, Yu-Qian Ma, Huan Zhao, Tian Xue
• Journal: Cell (Cell) Vol. 186 Issue 2 Pg. 398-412.e17 (01 19 2023) ISSN: 1097-4172 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 36669474 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Glucose

Topics

• Mice
• Animals
• Humans
• Adipose Tissue, Brown (metabolism)
• Hypothalamus (metabolism)
• Thermogenesis (physiology)
• Retina
• Retinal Ganglion Cells
• Glucose (metabolism)