Electrophysiological characterization of glucose sensing neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus of male rats

Abstract

The arcuate nucleus (ARC), located at the base of hypothalamus, contains two main populations of neurons involved in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure. The NPY neurons are orexigenic and their activation stimulates food intake while the activation of POMC neurons promote the opposite effect. Several works have tried to identify these neurons based on their electrophysiological and pharmacological characteristics. However, the classification of ARC neurons is still inconclusive. In this work, glucose concentrations were changed within at physiological range, and the response of rat ARC neurons to this stimulus was used to identify them. Subsequently, the cells were classified on the basis of their passive and active electrophysiological properties. Finally, calcium imaging experiments were done to study the response of ARC neurons populations changing glucose concentrations. We found that NPY and putative POMC neurons can be distinguished based on their electrophysiological properties such as input resistance and firing pattern. Calcium imaging experiments confirmed the diversity of ARC neurons.