Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Jan 1;39(1):0.
doi: 10.1152/physiol.00021.2023. Epub 2023 Nov 14.

Microglia in Central Control of Metabolism

Affiliations
Review

Microglia in Central Control of Metabolism

Jung Dae Kim et al. Physiology (Bethesda). .

Abstract

Beyond their role as brain immune cells, microglia act as metabolic sensors in response to changes in nutrient availability, thus playing a role in energy homeostasis. This review highlights the evidence and challenges of studying the role of microglia in metabolism regulation.

Keywords: diet-induced obesity; glial; hypothalamus; metabolism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

S. Diano is an editor of Physiology and was not involved and did not have access to information regarding the peer-review process or final disposition of this article. An alternate editor oversaw the peer-review and decision-making process for this article. None of the other authors has any conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
Hypothalamic microglia activation during high-fat diet (HFD) Microglia response to changes in dietary molecules and hormones [leptin, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), adiponectin, ghrelin]. The increase of fatty acids in HFD feeding switches microglia fuel utilization toward fatty acids and enhances inflammatory responses in the hypothalamus. Cytokines released from microglia can affect neuronal activity (TNFa, IL-1b) as well as astrocytic activity (IL-1a, TNFa, C1q). Activated neurons, astrocytes, and microglia recruit CD169+ and CCR2+ peripheral myeloid cells in the hypothalamus via release of chemokies such as CX3CL1 and CCL2. AgRP, Agouti-related protein; POMC, proopiomelanocortin.

References

    1. Gao Y, Ottaway N, Schriever SC, Legutko B, García-Cáceres C, de la Fuente E, Mergen C, Bour S, Thaler JP, Seeley RJ, Filosa J, Stern JE, Perez-Tilve D, Schwartz MW, Tschöp MH, Yi CX. Hormones and diet, but not body weight, control hypothalamic microglial activity. Glia 62: 17–25, 2014. doi:10.1002/glia.22580. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schur EA, Melhorn SJ, Oh SK, Lacy JM, Berkseth KE, Guyenet SJ, Sonnen JA, Tyagi V, Rosalynn M, De Leon B, Webb MF, Gonsalves ZT, Fligner CL, Schwartz MW, Maravilla KR. Radiologic evidence that hypothalamic gliosis is associated with obesity and insulin resistance in humans. Obesity (Silver Spring) 23: 2142–2148, 2015. doi:10.1002/oby.21248. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thaler JP, Yi CX, Schur EA, Guyenet SJ, Hwang BH, Dietrich MO, Zhao X, Sarruf DA, Izgur V, Maravilla KR, Nguyen HT, Fischer JD, Matsen ME, Wisse BE, Morton GJ, Horvath TL, Baskin DG, Tschöp MH, Schwartz MW. Obesity is associated with hypothalamic injury in rodents and humans. J Clin Invest 122: 153–162, 2012. doi:10.1172/JCI59660. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baufeld C, Osterloh A, Prokop S, Miller KR, Heppner FL. High-fat diet-induced brain region-specific phenotypic spectrum of CNS resident microglia. Acta Neuropathol 132: 361–375, 2016. doi:10.1007/s00401-016-1595-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Li Q, Barres BA. Microglia and macrophages in brain homeostasis and disease. Nat Rev Immunol 18: 225–242, 2018. doi:10.1038/nri.2017.125. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources