Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2025

Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic Clamps in Conscious, Unrestrained Mice
Published on: November 16, 2011
Metabolic Messengers: glucagon
Patrick E MacDonald1,2, Patrik Rorsman3,4
1Alberta Diabetes Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Abstract:
Plasma glucose is tightly regulated via the secretion of the two glucose-regulating hormones insulin and glucagon. Situated next to the insulin-secreting β-cells, the α-cells produce and secrete glucagon-one of the body's few blood glucose-increasing hormones. Diabetes is a bihormonal disorder, resulting from both inadequate insulin secretion and dysregulation of glucagon. The year 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of glucagon, making it particularly timely to highlight the roles of this systemic metabolic messenger in health and disease.
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