Involvement of hypothalamic orexin in the development of insulin resistance associated with depression

Depression is known to be associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. To reveal its pathophysiological mechanism, we investigated the changes in glucose metabolism in a mouse model of depression, and found that chronic social defeat stress caused depressive symptoms, the impairment of glucose tolerance and insulin resistance, probably through abnormal function of hypothalamic orexin system. Thus, hypothalamic orexin may be a novel target to treat type 2 diabetes associated with depression.