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Obese men respond to cognitive but not to catabolic brain insulin signaling

International Journal of Obesity volume 32, pages 275–282 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Context and objective:

Insulin acts in the brain to reduce food intake and body weight and is considered a major adiposity signal in energy homeostasis. In normal-weight men, intranasal insulin administration reduces body fat and improves declarative memory. The present experiments aimed to generalize these findings to obese patients, with a view to evaluate the therapeutic potential of the compound.

Design, subjects and measurements:

Insulin and placebo, respectively, were intranasally administered four times a day (amounting to 160 IU day−1) over 8 weeks to two groups of 15 obese men each.

Results:

Contrasting with the catabolic effects in normal-weight men, insulin treatment did not induce any significant reduction of body weight (P>0.50) and body fat (P>0.44) in the obese subjects. However, in accordance with the effects in normal-weight men, declarative memory and mood were improved (P<0.05) and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity as assessed by circulating ACTH (P<0.01) and cortisol levels (P<0.04) was reduced.

Conclusions:

Our results indicate that in obese men, intranasal insulin is functionally active in the central nervous system but fails to affect the neuronal networks critically involved in body weight regulation. We conclude that obesity in men is associated with central nervous resistance to the adiposity signal insulin. This defect likely contributes to the persistence of obesity in spite of elevated levels of circulating insulin in obese patients.

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Acknowledgements

We thank N Bender, F Weidmann, I von Lützau and C Otten for expert technical assistance. Aero Pump, Hochheim, Germany, provided us with precision nasal air pumps. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 654/B3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroendocrinology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

    M Hallschmid, C Benedict & J Born

  2. Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

    B Schultes & W Kern

  3. Interdisciplinary Obesity Center East-Switzerland, Kantonsspital St Gallen, Rorschach, Switzerland

    B Schultes

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  1. M Hallschmid
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  2. C Benedict
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  4. J Born
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Correspondence to M Hallschmid.

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Hallschmid, M., Benedict, C., Schultes, B. et al. Obese men respond to cognitive but not to catabolic brain insulin signaling. Int J Obes 32, 275–282 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803722

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