Nelson Vergel
Founder, ExcelMale.com
Recently, a team of researchers — many from the University of Toulouse, the University of Bordeaux, and other research institutions in France — have conducted a study in mice to investigate the link between anxiety, depression, and insulin resistance further and to find out how they might go about addressing all these problems simultaneously.
In their research — the findings of which appear in The Journal of Neuroscience — the team worked with male mice that had been fed a high-fat diet so that the scientists could simulate insulin resistance.
They also noted that the mice on this type of diet showed changes in the brain that were consistent with the presence of anxiety-like symptoms, which the researchers call "one of the most visible and early symptoms of depression."
The researchers conducted two types of experiments. In one, they gave each mouse one of two kinds of drugs: either metformin, a common drug used to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes, or fluoxetine, a common antidepressant.
The team — led by Bruno Guiard, Ph.D., an associate professor of neuroscience and pharmacology at the University of Toulouse — found that metformin reduced anxiety-like behaviors in the mice.
This, the researchers observed, was because the diabetes drug boosted levels of serotonin in the brain.
Serotonin is a hormone and neurotransmitter that plays a key role in the regulation of emotions. This is why people sometimes refer to it as the happiness hormone.
More on Metformin and anxiety
In their research — the findings of which appear in The Journal of Neuroscience — the team worked with male mice that had been fed a high-fat diet so that the scientists could simulate insulin resistance.
They also noted that the mice on this type of diet showed changes in the brain that were consistent with the presence of anxiety-like symptoms, which the researchers call "one of the most visible and early symptoms of depression."
The researchers conducted two types of experiments. In one, they gave each mouse one of two kinds of drugs: either metformin, a common drug used to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes, or fluoxetine, a common antidepressant.
The team — led by Bruno Guiard, Ph.D., an associate professor of neuroscience and pharmacology at the University of Toulouse — found that metformin reduced anxiety-like behaviors in the mice.
This, the researchers observed, was because the diabetes drug boosted levels of serotonin in the brain.
Serotonin is a hormone and neurotransmitter that plays a key role in the regulation of emotions. This is why people sometimes refer to it as the happiness hormone.
More on Metformin and anxiety
