Abstract
The role of glucagon in normal glucose homeostasis and the potential contribution of this hormone to the genesis and maintenance of the hyperglycemia and ketonemia of diabetes mellitus have been the focus of extensive investigation in the past decade. Recent studies have affirmed the participation and importance of glucagon in the control of hepatic glucose output (Bomboy, Jr., Lewis, Sinclair-Smith, Lacy, and Liljenquist, 1977a; Bomboy, Lewis, Lacy, Sinclair-Smith, and Liljenquist, 1977b; Chiasson, Liljenquist, Jennings, Keller, and Lacy, 1976; Felig, Wahren, and Hendler, 1976a), but at the same time challenged its significance for the genesis of the metabolic abnormalities of diabetes (Felig et al., 1976b). Two major tools have enabled the performance of these studies. The first is the availability of radioimmunoassay procedures utilizing antisera with a high degree of “specificity” for so-called pancreatic glucagon (Sperling, DeLamater, Kazenelson, Fiser, and Fisher, 1974). The second is the availability of somatostatin (SRIF), the tetradecapeptide which inhibits the secretion of a number of hormones including insulin and glucagon (Vale, Brazeau, Rivier, Brown, Boss, Rivier, Burgus, Ling, and Guillemin, 1975).
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Original research of the author supported, in part, by USPHS Grant HD-07087 from the NICHD of NIH, Bethesda, MD, and by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Dr. Sperling is a recipient of a Research Career Development Award from the United State Public Health Service (1 KO 4 HD-00029).
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Sperling, M.A. (1979). Glucagon: Secretion and Actions. In: Klachko, D.M., Anderson, R.R., Burns, T.W., Werner, H.V. (eds) The Endocrine Pancreas and Juvenile Diabetes. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 124. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8508-0_3
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