Short-Term Caloric Restriction Normalizes Hypothalamic Neuronal Responsiveness to Glucose Ingestion in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

The hypothalamus is critically involved in the regulation of feeding. Previous studies have shown that glucose ingestion inhibits hypothalamic neuronal activity. However, this was not observed in patients with type 2 diabetes. Restoring energy balance by reducing caloric intake and losing weight are important therapeutic strategies in patients with type 2 diabetes. We hypothesized that caloric restriction would have beneficial effects on the hypothalamic neuronal response to glucose ingestion. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 10 male type 2 diabetic patients before and after a 4-day very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) at a 3.0 Tesla scanner using a blood oxygen level–dependent technique for measuring neuronal activity in the hypothalamus in response to an oral glucose load. Hypothalamic signals were normalized to baseline value, and differences between the pre- and postdiet condition were tested using paired t tests. Pre-VLCD scans showed no response of the hypothalamus to glucose intake (i.e., no signal decrease after glucose intake was observed). Post-VLCD scans showed a prolonged signal decrease after glucose ingestion. The results of the current study demonstrate that short-term caloric restriction readily normalizes hypothalamic responsiveness to glucose ingestion in patients with type 2 diabetes.