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Intranasal insulin may lower food intake in
men, improve Memory Function in women
Newswise — Insulin administered intranasally, acutely decreases
food intake in men but not women and in
contrast, the compound improves memory
function in women but not men according to a
new study accepted for publication in the
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &
Metabolism (JCEM).
“Our findings indicate that gender is a critical factor in brain
insulin signaling that affects both food
intake and cognitive functions,” said Dr.
Christian Benedict of the University of
Lubeck in Germany.
“They further suggest that intranasal insulin may be helpful in
the treatment of cognitive and metabolic
disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and
obesity that are assumed to derive at least
in part from malfunctions of central nervous
insulin signaling.”
Previous studies have shown that insulin plays a pivotal role in
the regulation of central nervous functions
such as energy metabolism and memory
processing. This study set out to assess the
effects of a single dose of intranasal
insulin on these functions and to determine
any gender differences.
For this study, 14 men and 18 women were administered regular
human insulin intranasally before performing
a battery of cognitive tests. Subsequently,
study subjects took part in a breakfast
buffet and their food intake was measured.
The nasal spray device used in this study atomizes the insulin
solution before inhalation so that it
penetrates the nasal cavities more
effectively.
The pancreatic hormone insulin plays a pivotal role in the
regulation of central nervous functions such
as the neuroendocrine control of energy
metabolism and memory processing. Insulin
reaches the brain via a saturable transport
system, and binds to receptors primarily
located in cerebral cortex, olfactory bulb,
hippocampus, cerebellum, and hypothalamus.
“Our findings show that men are more sensitive to the central
anorexigenic actions of insulin whereas
women benefit to a greater extent from its
acute cognitive effects,” said Benedict.
“Gender differences will have to be
considered in the possible future
development of intranasal insulin
therapeutics.”
Other researchers working on the study include Werner Kern, Jan
Born, and Manfred Hallschmid of the
University of Lubeck in Germany; and Bernd
Schultes of the Interdisciplinary Obesity
Center East-Switzerland, Kantonsspital St.
Gallen in Switzerland.
A rapid release version of this paper has been published on-line
and will appear in the April 2008 issue of
JCEM, a publication of The Endocrine
Society.
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