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glucagon basic question

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Matt1212

Well-Known Member
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Hello All,

What causes the body to release glucagon ?
Is it low BG or very small amounts of insulin in the blood ?

if a type 1 diabetic has a BG of 2.0 but just injected novaparid would glucagon be released or would the high level of insulin stop the glucagon release

equally if BG 20 but no insulin in blood would glucagon be released and push BG even higher ?

thanks
Matt
 
Matt1212 said:
Hello All,

What causes the body to release glucagon ?
Is it low BG or very small amounts of insulin in the blood ?

Alpha cells in the pancreas, but can't be relied upon as they do take a very long time to send the signal to the liver, and they may not be present so may not work

if a type 1 diabetic has a BG of 2.0 but just injected novaparid would glucagon be released or would the high level of insulin stop the glucagon release

You would likely kill your self, 2mmol/ml is very near the line where the body is in serious trouble indeed, most diabetics are unconsiouse (sp)

equally if BG 20 but no insulin in blood would glucagon be released and push BG even higher ?

the liver dribbles glucagon into the blood stream 24/7 a varying amounts, the body does have the ability to dump the whole store into the system if it recgonises that blood glucose is dangerously low, so yes the blood glucose would continual to raise with out insulin, your background insulin is what keeps it at bay, in theory if you are injecting the right amount of background insulin to tackle whats being put into the blood stream from the liver, then you should be able to fast with you BG maintain a steady level

thanks
Matt
Click to expand...
 
thanks for the info
However is it low BG that causes a glucagon dump or very low levels of insulin ?
will a dump happen at BG 2.0 if you have high levels of insulin ?
 
It's low blood glucose levels that causes the dump...

As to what BG the liver will dump is very difficult to say, as it depends how long it takes the Alpha cells to send the dumping signals... It could take hours and the longer you are in hypo land the more **** you feel on recovery and the higher the danger you won't come out of it...

Because you would be reling have sufficent Alpha cell response to get around to it, plus enough glucagon in the liver to bail you out, if you've had a alcoholic drink, then the store could already be depleted as while the liver is sorting out the alcohol out of the system it can't make stores of glucagon...
 
Cross post with Jopar

Hi there is a good diagram that explains normal function here
http://biomed.brown.edu/Courses/BI108/BI108_2002_Groups/pancstems/stemcell/insulin_glucagon.htm

It is the low glucose that causes the alpha cells to release glucagon. In a 'normal' person the low glucose also supresses the release of insulin. This can't happen with injected insulin and in addition the excess insulin will prevent the blood glucose level rising .
Unfortnately:
Glucagon responses to hypoglycemia have been known to be blunted in type 1 diabetes of long duration, and this may be a result of a loss of alpha- and beta-cell communication secondary to insulin deficiency
Click to expand...
url]http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/452112[/url]
The glycogen stores in the liver are also finite. and if the reserves aren't there it can't release them This could happen because of not 'refueling' after sustained exercise or being depleted because of fasting ( dare I say a very low carb diet) or because the liver has been busy metabolising alcohol.
 
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