Scenario: Low blood glucose levels
A person is doing the 40-hour famine. This is when the person cannot eat for 48 hours to raise money for World Vision. When a person does not eat for 48 hours they are not ingesting any glucose from food so there will be a deficiency of blood glucose levels. Blood glucose levels are monitored by the islets of Langerhans. Low blood glucose levels are sensed by the alpha cells in the islets so during the 40-hour famine when blood sugars fall below 5mM, alpha cells sense this and release the polypeptide hormone glucagon. Glucagon raises blood glucose levels in a way that is antagonistic to insulin. Its effect is to increase blood glucose levels and its effect is most powerful when insulin levels in the blood
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It circulates in the bloodstream and binds only to specific receptors on the surface of liver cells. This binding stimulates a change in the shape of the receptor which activates an enzyme called glycogen phosphorylase which begins the breakdown of glycogen polymers back into glucose. It also opens glucose channels to allow the freshly broken down glucose to flow out of the cell.
Glucose
Glucose cannot get inside a cell unless specific proteins called ‘glucose transporters’ are in the membrane. These are there to provide a channel for the glucose to move through. They do not use energy so will only transport glucose from areas of high blood glucose concentration to areas of low blood glucose concentration. So if a cell is using glucose and levels in the cell drop, glucose will move from the bloodstream on the outside of the cell to inside the cell to boost those glucose levels until an equilibrium is reached.
When liver cells are stimulated by glucagon to produce glucose from glycogen there will be lots of glucose on the inside of the cells so glucose will flow from the inside of the cell to the outside. In the brain and liver there are always glucose transporters in the plasma membrane. This is because if glucose is constantly being used by the brain and nerve cells for energy, there will always be low glucose levels in the cell so glucose will always be flowing into the
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Type 1 or ‘early onset diabetes’ is an auto immune disease in which the immune system attacks and destroys the body’s own beta cells.
In type 1 diabetes the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin producing beta cells in the islets of Langerhans. The body is believed to do this because of some unfortunate genetic coding.
All people have particular HLA (human leukocyte antigen) complexes, but scientists have found that diabetes is likely to develop in people who have a specific HLA complex. The purpose of this complex is to trigger an immune response in the body. When the body gets an infection the immune system produces antibodies to fight it. In charge of making these antibodies are T cells. If the infection has similar antigens (something recognized by the immune system as a threat) as beta cells, the T cells can turn against the beta cells and begin destroying them. This destruction happens over several years, though disease symptoms appear quite quickly.
Without beta cells obviously the body cannot produce insulin in response to high blood glucose, causing type 1 diabetics to have abnormally high blood sugar
Glucagon acts on liver cells to promote breakdown of glycogen into glucose and formation of glucose from lactic acid and certain amino acids.
Type 1 diabetes is also called insulin-dependent because the pancreas produce little to no insulin due to the destruction of beta cell in pancreas(Bardsley et al, 2004). Therefore, the insulin have to be injected manually for body to function normally. (Seewaldt et.al, 2000) states that in type 1 diabetes, the beta cell located in the islets of Langerhans have antigen that cause the immune system to produce antibodies and kill the insulin producing cells. The autoimmune response is thought to be caused by the autoreactive CD4 and CD8 effector cells that recognise islet self-antigens, as an outcome there is greater than 90% destruction on insulin producing cell BACH (1994). Similarly, (Nakayama et al,2005) and (Kent et al, 2005) supports that insulin in itself is a
Diabetes type 1 develops when the immune system attacks the only cells that create insulin, the pancreatic beta cells. Due to the cells being destroyed, the person with diabetes type 1 has to be
The hypothalamus will send a signal to the pancreas to release glucagon, the hormone responsible for increasing glucose, to the blood. After glucagon enters the blood it will go to the target cell to bind to the receptor. After it reaches the receptor, glucagon stimulates the breakdown of glycogen, which will then secrete glucose to the blood thus increasing the blood glucose levels. This is an example of positive feedback. Once the receptors in blood detect that the glucose in the blood is increasing, the target cells will then send a signal to the to stop the stimulation of glucagon. This is called negative
Type 1 is related to the body’s own immune response destroys Beta cell in the pancreas, which are responsible for producing insulin. In a normal immune system fights off viruses and bacteria but for some reason Type 1 diabetes attacks the insulin producing cells creating a total deficiency in insulin. (Diabetes Health Center,
This disease does not favor one gender over the other, it effects males and females equally. Currently, the origin of diabetes is a conundrum. Although, it is understood that the immune system attacks the beta cells but it is not clear how or why it occurs. It is hypothesized that T1D maybe hereditary and environmental factors contribute to the onset (5). Symptoms prevail in individuals whom have the majority of their beta cells destroyed via a cellular mediated autoimmune response (1).
The disease type one diabetes happens when the human immune system destroys the beta cells that are in our pancreas. The beta cells are responsible for making the insulin in our pancreas. Insulin is a hormone in our body that works like a key does in a door. Insulin unlocks our cells to let sugar into our cells from our blood stream. Our body then can utilize the sugar for energy. People that have the disease type one diabetes have very little insulin because their beta cells in their pancreas have been destroyed. People that have the disease type one diabetes have high levels of sugar in their blood because the sugar cannot get into their cells.
Diabetes type 2 is a condition in which blood sugar levels are too high. After eating foods that contain carbohydrates, chemicals in the small intestine break down the carbohydrates into simple sugar molecules called glucose. The cell lining of the small intestine absorbs the glucose, which then passes into the bloodstream. When the blood reaches the pancreas, beta cells in the pancreas detect the rising glucose levels. To reduce the glucose level, beta cells release insulin into the bloodstream. As the blood circulates through the body, the insulin and glucose exit the bloodstream into tissue to reach the body’s cells. Most cells of the body have certain receptors on their surface that bind to the circulating insulin. Insulin acts like a key in a lock to open up the cell so that the circulating glucose can get inside the cell. The cell can use the glucose to produce the energy it needs to function properly. If a person has insulin resistance, insulin cannot unlock the cells to let glucose in because the locks, called receptors, are abnormal and/or missing. As a result, glucose is locked out of the cells. The amount of glucose builds up in the bloodstream in a condition called hyperglycemia. To compensate for hyperglycemia, the pancreas produces more and more insulin. Overworked beta cells try to keep with the demand, but gradually lose their ability to produce enough insulin.
Type 1 Diabetes occurs when the insulin producing beta cells also know as islet cells, produced in the islet of langethan, are attacked in the pancreases resulting in little to no insulin production. This leads to elevated levels of blood glucose (more than 8mmol/L) and if left uncontrolled multiple complications arise (reference NPS MIDICE WISE).
This is where the hormones; insulin and glucagon interfere. Insulin is a regulatory hormone of glucose which is produced and released by beta cells in the pancreas; an organ located behind the stomach (Niddk.nih.gov, 2015). Insulin secretion is triggered by the presence of great amounts of glucose and it helps cells utilize glucose as a form of energy (Niddk.nih.gov, 2015). It plays a major role in how the body uses digested food for energy. It allows the body to use the immense glucose in a safe and efficient manner, as excess glucose in the blood poses illnesses upon the body. First, insulin signals the cells that there is glucose present for usage. The cells may need and take that glucose if they are in need of energy or may reject that available glucose if they have sufficient amounts of it to carry out their tasks (Anon, 2015). In the case where cells may reject the glucose, it will have to be used up differently or stored. Insulin then carries glucose to other parts of the body like the muscle and liver cells (Anon, 2015). Insulin triggers the liver and muscle cells to store excessive glucose in the form of glycogen (Bano, 2013). When the muscle and liver cells use up or store the given glucose in the form of glycogen, blood glucose levels decrease and insulin reduces the production of glucose in the liver (Bano, 2013). The stored glycogen can later be reconverted back to glucose when sugar levels fall. After providing glucose to the muscle and liver cells, the insulin will carry glucose to the adipose tissue where fat cells are present (Bano, 2013). The fat cells will also accept the extra glucose and store it for later
In normal conditions, the presence of insulin promotes the absorption of sugar triggers glycolysis; a process that converts glucose into energy. Insulin secretion is initiated by an increase in glucose level in the blood stream while decreased glucose levels will suppress it. In addition to stimulating the absorption of glucose and its
When blood sugar levels fall below the optimal level, for example between a meal or during exercise, then the alpha cells will be alerted of this drop in glucose levels by electrical triggers within the cells and glucagon will be released from the alpha cells in the pancreas into the bloodstream. Glucagon acts like insulin in the way in which it binds to the active site of the appropriate receptors that are located on the outside of the membrane of the liver cells and then proceeds to stimulate a series of reaction pathways within the liver cells that result in the activation of an enzyme called glycogen phosphorylase. Unlike the enzyme that is activated by insulin (glycogen synthase) which results in the formation of glycogen polymers, glycogen phosphorylase works to in the opposing manner to catalyse the breakdown of the glycogen polymers back into glucose molecules. This process continues until enough glucose is produced by the breakdown of glycogen polymers that it disrupts the concentration gradient, as there is now a higher level of glucose molecules within the cell than in the bloodstream. The glucose molecules then move out of the cell through the cell membrane by facilitated diffusion through the glucose transporters and into the bloodstream
When blood-glucose levels rise, there is an increase in soluble glucose molecules in the blood and is detected by the beta cells of the pancreas in the islets of Langerhans of the endocrine tissue. Beta cells respond to hyperglycaemic stimuli by producing a hormone called insulin which stimulates cells, especially adipose and muscle cells, to take up soluble glucose molecules from the blood. Insulin is a short protein consisting of a string of amino acids with a particular shape. Insulin responds to this hyperglycaemic change by converting individual glucose molecules to form polysaccharide molecules called glycogen, which is stored in the liver and muscles and triggering glucose transporter molecules to gate glucose into the cell.[1] This process is called glycogenesis. Beta cells are the only cells in the body that produce insulin that enters the bloodstream straight away. The stored insoluble glycogen causes the amount of glucose present in the bloodstream to decrease and therefore insulin has a hypoglycaemic effect on the body. The mitochondria of cells require glucose to drive cellular processes such as muscle movement, and the glucose metabolized
Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body 's immune system attacks and
Type 1 diabetes: Type 1 diabetes mellitus is characterized by loss of the insulin-producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas leading to insulin deficiency.