Newly discovered knowledge pertaining to glucagon and its clinical applications

Abstract

Glucagon has been defined as an ‘insulin counteracting hormone’, which raises blood glucose levels. Recent progress in basic research has shown that glucagon is closely involved in glucose and amino acid metabolism. Additionally, its secretion is intricately, but precisely, regulated by various mechanisms involving molecules in addition to glucose, thus showing its critical role in systemic nutrient metabolism. An innovative dual‐antibody‐linked immunosorbent assay for glucagon that improves measurement accuracy has been developed, and substantial clinical findings have been obtained using this new system. This discovery expanded the pathophysiological significance of glucagon and accelerated the development of its clinical applications in diabetes.

Escherichia coli (Lilly) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Novo) rDNA Glucagon: An Assessment of Their Actions When Supplied Selectively to Periportal Cells in the Bivascularly Perfused Rat Liver

“…Glucagon has been regarded for many years mainly as an insulin antagonic hormone in as much as several types of its preparations have been used to treat insulin-induced hypoglycemic episodes. More recent investigations, however, indicate that its action encompasses a much more ample set of physiological roles, which may have clinical significance [31][32][33]. With reference to the latter, there is presently intense research being done using various glucagon agonists, which are in most cases chemically modified peptides [34].…”