Minocycline Reduces Hypothalamic Microglia Activation and Improves Metabolic Dysfunction in High Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

Obesity is associated with insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, inflammation, and altered neuronal activity in brain regions controlling metabolic functions including food intake, energy expenditure, and glucose homeostasis, such as the hypothalamus. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that inhibiting inflammation with minocycline could reduce adverse metabolic consequences associated with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in mice and sought to determine if metabolic improvements were associated with reduced hypothalamic microglia activity. Male C57Bl/6J mice were placed on 60% HFD for 12 weeks, with minocycline (40 mg/kg, p.