Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01275 (glucagon)
 26,492 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The glucagon-secreting A cell is a vital component of the organ system which regulates the distribution of fuel--the islets of Langerhans. Bihormonal control of glucoregulation through a push-pull system maintains the glucose concentration of extracellular fluid within narrow limits irrespective of glucose flux rates through relative equality of glucose influx and efflux. This equality requires appropriate secretion mixtures of the biologic antagonists, insulin and glucagon, directed by a glucose sensor. In severe diabetes, there are virtually no B cells and A cells are in contact largely with other A cells and their glucose-sensing capacity is lost. The A cell hypersecretes and in most juvenile type diabetics aggressive therapy with insulin fails to restore it to normal. Glucagon is a factor in the development of endogenous hyperglycemia, and ketoacidosis. Its suppression may provide a possible approach in the future pharmacologic management of diabetic hyperglycemia.
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PMID:Role of glucagon in diabetes. 40 69

The effect of an oral dose of 1 gm. L-dopa either without or after a concomitant oral administration of 100 gm. glucose on the plasma level of pancreatic glucagon, plasma immunoreactive insulin (IRI), and plasma growth hormone (GH) was assessed in eight normal and 10 insulin-treated diabetic subjects. In the normal group the stimulatory effect o L-dopa on pancreatic glucagon release was reconfirmed. Moreover, in the diabetics essentially the same plasma glucagon increase after drug administration was found, such a response being inhibited in both groups by glucose. The increase of plasma GH after L-dopa in both healthy persons and diabetics and the inhibition of this response by glucose in healthy subjects was reconfirmed. Furthermore, the same effect of exogenous glucose on the L-dopa induced GH release was observed in diabetics. It may be concluded that glucagon may play a pathogenetic role in the worsening of parkinsonian diabetic patients during the treatment with L-dopa and that diabetic hyperglycemia per se seems to be insufficient for an inhibition of the release of both glucagon and GH AFTer L-dopa.
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PMID:Effect of glucose on the glucagon response to L-dopa in normal and diabetic subjects. 64 Feb 44

To determine whether somatostatin, an inhibitor of glucagon and growth hormone secretion, might be useful as an adjunct to insulin the management of diabetic hyperglycaemia, seven insulin-requiring diabetic men were given somatostatin (100 microgram/h, IV) continuously for 3 days after their diabetes had been treated intensively by diet and insulin on a metabolic ward. During infusion of somatostatin and despite reduction in average insulin dose exceeding 50%, there was improvement in diabetic control as assessed by postprandial hyperglycaemia, 24-h glycosuria and the average daily serum glucose level and its fluctuation; when somatostatin was discontinued, but insulin doses held constant, diabetic control rapidly worsened. No adverse effects were observed. These results indicate that somatostatin plus insulin can be a more effective regimen than insulin alone in controlling diabetic hyperglycaemia. A longer acting and more selective somatostatin preparation may prove useful as an adjunct to insulin in the management of diabetes.
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PMID:Clinical evaluation of somatostatin as a potential ajunct to insulin in the management of diabetes mellitus. 90 78

Glucagon suppression by somatostatin reduces or abolishes hyperglycemia in dogs made insulin-deficient by somatostatin, alloxan, or total pancreatectomy. This suggests that the development of severe diabetic hyperglycemia requires the presence of glucagon, whether secreted by pancreatic or newly identified gastrointestinal A cells, as well as a lack of insulin. Glucagon suppression could improve therapeutic glucoregulation in diabetes.
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PMID:Glucagon: role in the hyperglycemia of diabetes mellitus. 108 99

The role of glucagon in diabetic hyperglycaemia has been a matter of controversy because of difficulties in the production of selective glucagon deficiency. We developed a high-capacity (40 nmol/ml), high-affinity (0.6 x 10(11) l/mol) monoclonal glucagon antibody (Glu-mAb) and gave i.v. injections (4 ml/kg) to rats in order to study the effect of selective glucagon deficiency on blood glucose. Controls received a mAb against trinitrophenyl. Glu-mAb completely abolished the hyperglycaemic effect of 2.86 nmol/kg glucagon in normal rats (p < 0.05, n = 6). In moderately hyperglycaemic rats injected with streptozotocin as neonates (N-STZ), Glu-mAb abolished a postprandial increase in blood glucose (from 11.2 +/- 0.7 mmol/l to 17.3 +/- 1.8 mmol/l in controls vs 10.5 +/- 0.9 mmol/l to 9.3 +/- 1.0 mmol/l; cross-over: n = 6, p < 0.05). No significant effect of Glu-mAb treatment was observed in more hyperglycaemic N-STZ rats (cross-over, n = 4) and in severely hyperglycaemic rats injected with STZ as adults (n = 6), but after insulin treatment of the latter, at doses partially restoring blood glucose levels (12.7 +/- 4.3 mmol/l), Glu-mAb administration almost normalized blood glucose (maximal difference: 6.0 +/- 3.8 mmol/l; cross-over: n = 5, p < 0.05). In conclusion, our results provide strong additional evidence for the hypothesis that glucagon is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetes. The hormone plays an important role in the development of STZ-diabetic hyperglycaemia, but glucagon neutralization only leads to normoglycaemia in the presence of insulin.
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PMID:Immunoneutralization of endogenous glucagon with monoclonal glucagon antibody normalizes hyperglycaemia in moderately streptozotocin-diabetic rats. 785 93

Although glucose is the major regulator of insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells, its action is modulated by several neural and hormonal stimuli. In particular, hormones secreted by intestinal endocrine cells stimulate glucose-induced insulin secretion very potently after nutrient absorption. These hormones, called gluco-incretins or insulinotropic hormones, are major regulators of postprandial glucose homeostasis. The main gluco-incretins are GIP (gastric inhibitory polypeptide or glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like polypeptide-1). The secretion of GIP, a 42 amino acid polypeptide secreted by duodenal K cells, is triggered by fat and glucose. GIP stimulation of insulin secretion depends on the presence of specific beta-cell receptors and requires glucose at a concentration at least equal to or higher than the normoglycaemic level of approximately 5 mM. GIP accounts for about 50% of incretin activity, and the rest may be due to GLP-1 which is produced by proteolytic processing of the preproglucagon molecule in intestinal L cells. GLP-1 is the most potent gluco-incretin characterized so far. As with GIP, its stimulatory action requires a specific membrane receptor and normal or elevated glucose concentrations. Contrary to GIP, the incretin effect of GLP-1 is maintained in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients. This peptide or agonists of its beta-cell receptor could provide new therapeutic tools for the treatment of Type II diabetic hyperglycaemia.
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PMID:Glucagon-like peptide-1 and control of insulin secretion. 858 47

GLP-1 administration decreases blood glucose levels in normal subjects and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients and is therefore proposed as a treatment for diabetic hyperglycaemia. The glucose lowering effect of GLP-1 is glucose dependent and therefore self-limiting, but it is not known to which extent counterregulatory mechanisms participate in this. GLP-1 was infused i.v. into 8 healthy subjects after an overnight fast at a rate of 100 pmol kg-1 h-1 for 1 h with and without beta-adrenoceptor blockade (i.v. bolus of 5 mg propranolol followed by a continuous infusion of 0.08 mg min-1). In a control experiment, saline and propranolol were infused. Hepatic glucose production was measured and blood was analysed for plasma glucose, insulin, glucagon, catecholamines, and radioactivity. Plasma GLP-1 levels were similar on the two GLP-1 infusion days and resulted in: (1) a significant decrease in plasma glucose from 5.2 +/- 0.2 to 4.1 +/- 0.1 mmol l-1 with GLP-1/propranolol infusion, and from 5.2 +/- 0.1 to 4.0 +/- 0.1 mmol l-1 with GLP-1/saline infusion (NS); (2) a corresponding significant increase in plasma insulin from 58.0 +/- 6.3 to 144.5 +/- 22.3 pmol l-1 and from 61.7 +/- 6.4 to 148.2 +/- 34.0 pmol l-1, respectively (NS); (3) a significant decrease in plasma glucagon from 11.7 +/- 1.6 to 6.5 +/- 1.5 pmol l-1 and from 10.4 +/- 1.6 to 4.6 +/- 1.0 pmol l-1, respectively; (4) a significant decrease in the rate of glucose appearance which was not significantly different on the two GLP-1 infusion days; and (5) an increase in catecholamine levels in the GLP-1/saline experiment and also in the beta-blockade experiments. We conclude that adrenergic counterregulation plays an insignificant role in curtailing GLP-1's glucose lowering effect.
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PMID:No effect of beta-adrenergic blockade on hypoglycaemic effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in normal subjects. 879 58

Peptidic glucagon antagonists have been shown to lower blood glucose levels in diabetic models (1-3), but attempts to identify small molecular weight glucagon receptor-binding antagonists have met with little success. Skyrin, a fungal bisanthroquinone, exhibits functional glucagon antagonism by uncoupling the glucagon receptor from adenylate cyclase activation in rat liver membranes (1). We have examined the effects of skyrin on cells transfected with the human glucagon receptor and on isolated rat and human hepatocytes. The skyrin used was isolated from Talaromyces wortmanni American Type Culture Collection 10517. In rat hepatocytes, skyrin (30 micromol/l) inhibited glucagon-stimulated cAMP production (53%) and glucose output (IC50 56 micromol/l). There was no detectable effect on epinephrine or glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) stimulation of these parameters, which demonstrates skyrin's selective activity. Skyrin was also evaluated in primary cultures of human hepatocytes. Unlike cell lines, which are largely unresponsive to glucagon, primary human hepatocytes exhibited glucagon-dependent cAMP production for 14 days in culture (EC50 10 nmol/l). Skyrin (10 micromol/l) markedly reduced glucagon-stimulated cAMP production (55%) and glycogenolysis (27%) in human hepatocytes. The inhibition of glucagon stimulation was a specific property displayed by skyrin and oxyskyrin but not shared by other bisanthroquinones. Skyrin is the first small molecular weight nonpeptidic agent demonstrated to interfere with the coupling of glucagon to adenylate cyclase independent of binding to the glucagon receptor. The data presented in this study indicate that functional uncoupling of the human glucagon receptor from cAMP production results in metabolic effects that could reduce hepatocyte glucose production and hence alleviate diabetic hyperglycemia.
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PMID:Effects of skyrin, a receptor-selective glucagon antagonist, in rat and human hepatocytes. 1111 10

Hepatic glucose production by gluconeogenesis is the main source of glucose during fasting and contributes significantly to hyperglycemia in diabetes mellitus. Accordingly, glucose metabolism is tightly controlled by a variety of hormones including insulin, epinephrine, glucagon, and glucocorticoids (GCs) acting on various cell types. GC effects are mediated by the GC receptor (GR), a ligand-dependent transcription factor, which in the liver and kidney controls gluconeogenesis by induction of gluconeogenic enzymes. To specifically study the contribution of GC on liver carbohydrate metabolism, we generated mice with an inactivation of the GR gene exclusively in hepatocytes using the Cre/loxP technology. Half of the mutant mice die within the first 2 d after birth most likely due to hypoglycemia. Adult mice have normal blood sugar under basal conditions but show hypoglycemia after prolonged starvation due to reduced expression of genes involved in gluconeogenesis. We further demonstrate that absence of GR in hepatocytes limits the development of hyperglycemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus probably due to impaired induction of gluconeogenesis. These findings show the essential role of GR function in liver glucose metabolism during fasting and in diabetic mice and indicate that liver-specific GC antagonists could be beneficial in control of diabetic hyperglycemia.
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PMID:Inactivation of the glucocorticoid receptor in hepatocytes leads to fasting hypoglycemia and ameliorates hyperglycemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus. 1503 19

Excessive secretion of glucagon is a major contributor to the development of diabetic hyperglycemia. Secretion of glucagon is regulated by various nutrients, with glucose being a primary determinant of the rate of alpha cell glucagon secretion. The intra-islet action of insulin is essential to exert the effect of glucose on the alpha cells since, in the absence of insulin, glucose is not able to suppress glucagon release in vivo. However, the precise mechanism by which insulin suppresses glucagon secretion from alpha cells is unknown. In this study, we show that insulin induces activation of GABAA receptors in the alpha cells by receptor translocation via an Akt kinase-dependent pathway. This leads to membrane hyperpolarization in the alpha cells and, ultimately, suppression of glucagon secretion. We propose that defects in this pathway(s) contribute to diabetic hyperglycemia.
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PMID:Intra-islet insulin suppresses glucagon release via GABA-GABAA receptor system. 1639 4


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