Brain insulin signaling restores deficits in striatal dopamine release in overweight male mice with preexisting low D2-receptor expression

Abstract

Obesity is characterized by insulin resistance, motivational impairments, and, in some cases, reduced availability of dopamine D2 receptors in the brain. However, whether the low D2 receptor levels represent a predisposing factor or a consequence of obesity, and how these processes are mechanistically linked, remains unclear. Here, we directly tested this causal relationship by selectively reducing D2 receptor density in striatal neurons. Male, but not female, mice with a low density of striatal D2 receptors consumed more food, gained more weight, and developed metabolic features of peripheral insulin resistance despite being maintained on standard chow. Motivational deficits preceded weight gain, manifesting as delayed circadian locomotor onset, reduced physical activity, and diminished effort to obtain food. In the brain, male mice with low D2 receptor density showed reduced dopamine release capacity and age-dependent alterations in brain insulin sensitivity. Prior to weight gain, brain insulin responses were blunted compared to those of controls, in which insulin potentiates dopamine release and enhances striatal acetylcholine signaling. Once overweight, however, these mice exhibited brain insulin hypersensitivity, with insulin strongly restoring dopamine release capacity. Together, these findings demonstrate that low striatal D2 receptor density predisposes male mice to an obesity-like phenotype through early dopaminergic dysfunction that precedes weight gain and is later compensated by insulin hypersensitivity in the brain.