Roles of the vestibular system in obesity and impaired glucose metabolism in high-fat diet-fed mice

PLoS One. 2020 Feb 3;15(2):e0228685. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228685. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

The vestibular system controls balance, posture, blood pressure, and gaze. However, the roles of the vestibular system in energy and glucose metabolism remain unknown. We herein examined the roles of the vestibular system in obesity and impaired glucose metabolism using mice with vestibular lesions (VL) fed a high-sucrose/high-fat diet (HSHFD). VL was induced by surgery or arsenic. VL significantly suppressed body fat enhanced by HSHFD in mice. Glucose intolerance was improved by VL in mice fed HSHFD. VL blunted the levels of adipogenic factors and pro-inflammatory adipokines elevated by HSHFD in the epididymal white adipose tissue of mice. A β-blocker antagonized body fat and glucose intolerance enhanced by HSHFD in mice. The results of an RNA sequencing analysis showed that HSHFD induced alterations in genes, such as insulin-like growth factor-2 and glial fibrillary acidic protein, in the vestibular nuclei of mice through the vestibular system. In conclusion, we herein demonstrated that the dysregulation of the vestibular system influences an obese state and impaired glucose metabolism induced by HSHFD in mice. The vestibular system may contribute to the regulation of set points under excess energy conditions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipokines / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Diet, High-Fat / adverse effects*
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Glucose / metabolism*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Obesity / etiology
  • Obesity / metabolism*
  • Obesity / physiopathology
  • Vestibule, Labyrinth / physiopathology*

Substances

  • Adipokines
  • Glucose

Grants and funding

This study was partly supported by a grant from the Takeda Science Foundation to N.K., a grant from the Kindai Research Enhancement Grant (21st Century Joint Research Enhancement Grant) to H.K., a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C:16K08534, 19K07310) to N.K., and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (grant number 15H05935, “Living in Space”) to H.K. from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.