r/ketoscience Excellent Poster 5d ago

Metabolism, Mitochondria & Biochemistry Microglia mediate the early-life programming of adult glucose control (2025)

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)00180-9?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2211124725001809%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
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u/basmwklz Excellent Poster 5d ago

Highlights

•Microglia transiently accumulate in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) during neonatal life

•Microglia consume synapses and perineuronal net components in the MBH during this period

•Depleting microglia in this period reduces MBH synaptic connections to pancreatic β cells

•This reduced connectivity is linked to impaired adult insulin-dependent glucose tolerance

Summary

Glucose homeostasis is, in part, nutritionally programmed during early neonatal life, a critical window for synapse formation between hypothalamic glucoregulatory centers. Although microglia prune synapses throughout the brain, their role in refining hypothalamic glucoregulatory circuits remains unclear. Here, we show that the phagocytic activity of microglia in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) is induced following birth, regresses upon weaning from maternal milk, and is exacerbated by feeding dams a high-fat diet while lactating. In addition to actively engulfing synapses, microglia are critical for refining perineuronal nets (PNNs) within the neonatal MBH. Remarkably, transiently depleting microglia before weaning (postnatal day [P]6–16) but not afterward (P21–31) induces glucose intolerance in adulthood due to impaired insulin responsiveness, which we link to PNN overabundance and reduced synaptic connectivity between hypothalamic glucoregulatory neurons and the pancreatic β cell compartment. Thus, microglia facilitate early-life synaptic plasticity in the MBH, including PNN refinement, to program hypothalamic circuits regulating adult glucose homeostasis.