Estradiol Protects Proopiomelanocortin Neurons Against Insulin Resistance.

Insulin resistance is at the core of the metabolic syndrome, and men exhibit a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome than women in early adult life, but this sex advantage diminishes sharply when women reach the postmenopausal state. Because 17β-estradiol (E2) augments the excitability of the anorexigenic proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of E2 against insulin resistance in POMC neurons from diet-induced obese (DIO) female and male mice. The efficacy of insulin to activate canonical transient receptor potential 5 (TRPC5) channels and depolarize POMC neurons was significantly reduced in DIO male mice but not in DIO female mice.