ArticleNature communications2020
Microglial metabolic flexibility supports immune surveillance of the brain parenchyma.
Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07364162 (Exogenous Ketone Ester Supplementation in ICU Delirium), which is not on this map. Cited by 178 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Exogenous Ketone Ester Supplementation in ICU Delirium (KETONES ICU)
Who cites it
178 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 289 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of diabetes on microglial physiology: a systematic review of in vitro, preclinical and clinical studies.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2023Pooled it
- Metabolic reprogramming of microglia: Effects on development, disease, and therapeutic potential.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Brain mitochondria as key drivers of cognition and behaviour.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Metabolic Reprogramming of Brain Microglia: Implications for Aging and Aging-Associated Neurodegenerative Diseases.Aging cell · 2026Review
- Microglia extract neuronal proteolytic organelles via skoupocytosis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Microglia-mediated synaptic pruning in neural circuit remodeling: multidimensional control in homeostasis and neuropathology.BMC medicine · 2026Review
- The lung-brain axis in neurodegeneration: inflammatory, immune, and vascular mechanisms with therapeutic implications.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- PYGL-driven glycogenolysis impairs microglial autophagic fluxActa pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Article
- Hippocampal, Microglial, Morphological, and Amyloid Profiles Following Thiamine Pyrophosphate Treatment in 3xTg-AD Mice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Metabolic Reprogramming of Microglia in Neuroinflammation and Depression.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Metabolic profiling of steatotic liver disease by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Microglial fructose metabolism is essential for glioblastoma growth.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Dynamic transcriptomic remodeling in grafted human neural progenitor cells uncovers mechanisms for vision preservation in a rat model of retinitis pigmentosa.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Cellular mechanisms of brain lipid metabolism in health and disease.Nature cell biology · 2026Review
- Unravelling the novel insights between miR-7 and Parkinson's disease (PD).Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Review
- Microglia-Neuron Crosstalk: An Intimate Molecular Conversation in Neurodegeneration.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Role of Microglial Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease: From Multifactorial Causes to Neurodegeneration.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Review
- Discovery of Abundant Nano-scale Lymphatic-like Vessels in Brains.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Parkinson's disease: spatiotemporal regulation and therapeutic prospects of TREM2-mediated microglial responses.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2026Review
- Acupuncture regulates neuroinflammation: microglial glucose metabolism reprogramming as a potential mediating mechanism.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
118 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Microglia are highly motile cells that continuously monitor the brain environment and respond to damage-associated cues. While glucose is the main energy substrate used by neurons in the brain, the nutrients metabolized by microglia to support surveillance of the parenchyma remain unexplored. Here, we use fluorescence lifetime imaging of intracellular NAD(P)H and time-lapse two-photon imaging of microglial dynamics in vivo and in situ, to show unique aspects of the microglial metabolic signature in the brain. Microglia are metabolically flexible and can rapidly adapt to consume glutamine as an alternative metabolic fuel in the absence of glucose. During insulin-induced hypoglycemia in vivo or in aglycemia in acute brain slices, glutaminolysis supports the maintenance of microglial process motility and damage-sensing functions. This metabolic shift sustains mitochondrial metabolism and requires mTOR-dependent signaling. This remarkable plasticity allows microglia to maintain their critical surveillance and phagocytic roles, even after brain neuroenergetic homeostasis is compromised.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.