Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Is Associated with Social Recognition Memory Deficit and Altered Dopaminergic Neurotransmission in the Amygdala.

Objective: Diabetic neuropathy is a chronic and often disabling condition that affects a significant number of individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). It is now established that DM causes various CNS complications like Alzheimer's, dementia, anxiety, depression, neurodegeneration, mood disorders, cognitive dysfunctioning, and so on. Since amygdala and dopaminergic circuitry are critical in controlling several aspects of social behavior, even social recognition memory (SRM), we aimed to study the expression analysis of dopaminergic circuitry in amygdala using real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Material and Methods: Animals were divided into 2 age- and weight-matched groups: group I-control group and group II-diabetic group. Diabetes was induced by injecting 50 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ; in 0.1 mL ice cold citrate buffer, pH 4.5) i.p. for 5 consecutive days. Behavioral tests were performed 8 weeks after diabetes was introduced. On day 60, animals were sacrificed, amygdala was dissected, and the total RNA was isolated. Expression analysis was carried out using real time PCR.

Results: No significant changes were observed in social interaction and social isolation aspects of diabetic mice, but SRM was significantly dysregulated. Additionally, we found that dopaminergic neurotransmission (dopaminergic receptor expression and expression of enzymes controlling dopamine turnover) was significantly downregulated in the amygdala of STZ mice as compared to controls.

Conclusion: We hypothesize that the altered SRM could be due to the dysregulated dopaminergic circuitry in amygdala, although a detailed investigation is required to establish a causal relationship.