Anxiety Constitutes an Early Sign of Acute Hypoglycemia

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Research in humans has identified a link between hypoglycemia and anxiety. The present study examined anxiety-like behaviors in rats that were subjected to hypoglycemia that was produced by an acute injection of insulin. Healthy female Wistar rats were subjected to a battery of tests to explore anxiety (elevated plus maze) and locomotion (open field test). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The control (CT) group received 0.9% saline (3 mL/kg, p.o.). Three other groups received 50% glucose (3 mL/kg, p.o.), insulin (0.1 UI, s.c.), or insulin + glucose (normalized glycemia [NG] group). <b><i>Results:</i></b> Normal glycemic values were found in the CT and NG groups. Therefore, a single control (CT-NG) group was formed for statistical comparisons. The highest glycemic value was found in the glucose-induced hyperglycemia group. The lowest glycemic value was found in the insulin-induced hypoglycemia group. In the open field test, the most significant change was a higher number of rearings in the hypoglycemia group. In the elevated plus maze test, the CT-NG group and hyperglycemia groups exhibited similar behavior, whereas the hypoglycemia group spent a shorter time on the open arms and a longer time on the closed arms and had the highest Anxiety Index. Hyperglycemia is a typical characteristic of diabetes. Insulin normalizes glycemia. In the present study, insulin produced anxiety only when it produced hypoglycemia. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The main effect of acute hypoglycemia is anxiety, which may be considered an early sign of hypoglycemia in an allostatic process.

The Interaction of Glycemia with Anxiety and Depression Is Related to Altered Cerebellar and Cerebral Functional Correlations

“…This suggests that glycemia may be more related to anxiety, with anxiety driving the associations between the interaction of HbA1c with anxiety and depression and FCs. Animal studies have shown that hypoglycemia triggers anxiety-like behaviors [55]. Most likely, the increase in anxiety with hypoglycemia promotes glucose consumption.…”

Ketogenic diet attenuates cognitive dysfunctions induced by hypoglycemia via inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress-dependent pathways

“…Previous studies have proved that hypoglycemia induces anxiety-like behaviors in mice, with less time spent in the open arms and fewer arm entries in the EPM. 20 Our results showed that the proportion of open arms active distance in the SD + HG group ( p = 0.0449) was significantly lower than that in the control group. However, KD-fed mice, including the KD + HG group and KAb + HG group, showed significant increases in the proportion of the open arm active distance (KD + HG, p = 0.0123; KAb + HG, p = 0.0002, Fig.…”