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  • Metabolic Messengers
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Metabolic Messengers: glucagon

Nature Metabolism volume 5, pages 186–192 (2023)Cite this article

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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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Fig. 1: Timeline of important discoveries in glucagon research.
Fig. 2: Tissue regulation by glucagon.
Fig. 3: Regulation of glucagon secretion.

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Acknowledgements

P.E.M. holds the Canada Research Chair in Islet Biology and his work was funded by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; FS 148451), the National Institutes of Health (NIH; R01DK126482; U01DK123716; U01DK120447) and CIHR/JDRF/Diabetes Canada (TG 179092; SRA-2021-1149-S-B). P.R.’s studies are supported by the RCUK Medical Research Council (MR/VO11979/1), The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust (G-1912-03553 & G-2305-06047) and the Swedish Research Council (grant no: 2013-7107).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alberta Diabetes Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Patrick E. MacDonald

  2. Department of Pharmacology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Patrick E. MacDonald

  3. Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Patrik Rorsman

  4. Metabolic Physiology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Göteborg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Patrik Rorsman

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P.R. and P.E.M. jointly wrote this article.

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Nature Metabolism thanks Nicolai Wewer Albrechtsen and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary handling editor: Isabella Samuelson.

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MacDonald, P.E., Rorsman, P. Metabolic Messengers: glucagon. Nat Metab 5, 186–192 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-022-00725-3

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