Control of Glucose Production in vivo by Insulin and Glucagon

Oral Insulin Delivery in a Physiologic Context: Review

Insulin remains indispensable to the treatment of diabetes, but its availability in injectable form only has hampered its timely and broader use. The development of an oral insulin remains an ultimate goal to both enhance ease of use, and to provide therapeutic advantages rooted in its direct delivery to the portal vein and liver. By mimicking the physiological path taken by pancreatic insulin, oral insulin is expected to have a distinct effect on the hepatic aspect of carbohydrate metabolism, hepatic insulin resistance, and, at the same time, avoid hyperinsulinemia and minimize the risk of hypoglycemia. With oral insulin approaching late stages of development, the goal of this review is to examine oral insulin in a physiological context and report on recent progress in its development.

Glucagonocentric restructuring of diabetes: a pathophysiologic and therapeutic makeover

The hormone glucagon has long been dismissed as a minor contributor to metabolic disease. Here we propose that glucagon excess, rather than insulin deficiency, is the sine qua non of diabetes. We base this on the following evidence: (a) glucagon increases hepatic glucose and ketone production, catabolic features present in insulin deficiency; (b) hyperglucagonemia is present in every form of poorly controlled diabetes; (c) the glucagon suppressors leptin and somatostatin suppress all catabolic manifestations of diabetes during total insulin deficiency; (d) total β cell destruction in glucagon receptor-null mice does not cause diabetes; and (e) perfusion of normal pancreas with anti-insulin serum causes marked hyperglucagonemia. From this and other evidence, we conclude that glucose-responsive β cells normally regulate juxtaposed α cells and that without intraislet insulin, unregulated α cells hypersecrete glucagon, which directly causes the symptoms of diabetes. This indicates that glucagon suppression or inactivation may provide therapeutic advantages over insulin monotherapy.

Glucagon, in concert with insulin, supports the postabsorptive plasma glucose concentration in humans

OBJECTIVE

Given the interest in glucagon antagonism as a potential treatment of diabetes, we tested the hypothesis that glucagon, in concert with insulin, supports the postabsorptive plasma glucose concentration in humans.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Following preliminary studies that indicated that a peripheral intravenous insulin dose of 0.1 mU x kg(-1) x min(-1) (lower than those used previously) provides basal insulin replacement and that a glucagon dose of 1.0 ng x kg(-1) x min(-1) underreplaces basal glucagon, we infused the somatostatin analog octreotide (30 ng x kg(-1) x min(-1)) (with growth hormone replacement) over 4 h in 14 healthy adults on four separate occasions to produce endogenous insulin and glucagon deficiency with 1) saline (combined insulin and glucagon deficiency), 2) insulin replacement (isolated glucagon deficiency), 3) partial glucagon replacement (insulin and partial glucagon deficiency), and 4) insulin and partial glucagon replacement (partial glucagon deficiency).

RESULTS

During combined insulin and glucagon deficiency, glucose production decreased and then increased, and mean (+/-SE) plasma glucose decreased from 83 +/- 1 to 63 +/- 2 mg/dl at 60 min and then increased to 89 +/- 3 mg/dl at 240 min. During isolated glucagon deficiency, plasma glucose decreased to hypoglycemic levels and was 55 +/- 2 mg/dl at 240 min (P < 0.0001 vs. combined insulin and glucagon deficiency). Partial glucagon replacement raised plasma glucose to higher levels (P = 0.0469) during insulin deficiency and to higher levels (P = 0.0090) during insulin replacement.

CONCLUSIONS

These three findings provide direct evidence that glucagon, in concert with insulin, supports the postabsorptive plasma glucose concentration in humans.

Maintenance of the postabsorptive plasma glucose concentration: insulin or insulin plus glucagon?

The prevalent view is that the postabsorptive plasma glucose concentration is maintained within the physiological range by the interplay of the glucose-lowering action of insulin and the glucose-raising action of glucagon. It is supported by a body of evidence derived from studies of suppression of glucagon (and insulin, among other effects) with somatostatin in animals and humans, immunoneutralization of glucagon, defective glucagon synthesis, diverse mutations, and absent or reduced glucagon receptors in animals and glucagon antagonists in cells, animals, and humans. Many of these studies are open to alternative interpretations, and some lead to seemingly contradictory conclusions. For example, immunoneutralization of glucagon lowered plasma glucose concentrations in rabbits, but administration of a glucagon antagonist did not lower plasma glucose concentrations in healthy humans. Evidence that the glycemic threshold for glucagon secretion, unlike that for insulin secretion, lies below the physiological range, and the finding that selective suppression of insulin secretion without stimulation of glucagon secretion raises fasting plasma glucose concentrations in humans underscore the primacy of insulin in the regulation of the postabsorptive plasma glucose concentration and challenge the prevalent view. The alternative view is that the postabsorptive plasma glucose concentration is maintained within the physiological range by insulin alone, specifically regulated increments and decrements in insulin, and the resulting decrements and increments in endogenous glucose production, respectively, and glucagon becomes relevant only when glucose levels drift below the physiological range. Although the balance of evidence suggests that glucagon is involved in the maintenance of euglycemia, more definitive evidence is needed, particularly in humans.

Physiological consequences of phasic insulin release in the normal animal

The dose-response relationship between the hepatic sinusoidal insulin level and glucose production by the liver is such that a half-maximally effective concentration is at or slightly below the hormone levels seen basally after an overnight fast. In the normal individual, the direct effect of the hormone on the hepatocyte is far more important in restraining glucose production than its indirect effect mediated via a suppression of lipolysis. Because insulin regulates the liver in a direct fashion, its effect occurs within several minutes. Thus, the speed with which insulin works and the sensitivity of the liver to it predict that first-phase insulin release should have a significant effect in quickly suppressing hepatic glucose production. On the other hand, nonhepatic tissues are much less sensitive to insulin and respond slowly as a result of the need for insulin to cross the endothelial barrier. As a result, first-phase insulin is unlikely to significantly alter peripheral glucose disposal. Simulation studies in humans and dogs in which the effects of first-phase insulin were simulated confirmed the aforementioned predictions. In addition, they confirmed the ability of second-phase insulin release to have significant effects on both glucose production and utilization.