Light modulates glucose metabolism by a retina-hypothalamus-brown adipose tissue axis.

Public health studies indicate that artificial light is a high-risk factor for metabolic disorders. However, the neural mechanism underlying metabolic modulation by light remains elusive. Here, we found that light can acutely decrease glucose tolerance (GT) in mice by activation of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) innervating the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus (SON).