Nutrients. 2022 Jan 16;14(2):376. doi: 10.3390/nu14020376.

Affiliations

• 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria.

• 2 Department of Information Engineering, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.

• 3 CNR Institute of Neuroscience, 35127 Padova, Italy.

• 4 Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, 22184 Lund, Sweden.

• 5 Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Washington, DC 20016, USA.

• PMID: 35057557

• PMCID: PMC8780023

• DOI: 10.3390/nu14020376

Abstract

** Background: ** glucagon secretion and inhibition should be mainly determined by glucose and insulin levels, but the relative relevance of each factor is not clarified, especially following ingestion of different macronutrients. We aimed to investigate the associations between plasma glucagon, glucose, and insulin after ingestion of single macronutrients or mixed-meal.

** Methods: ** thirty-six participants underwent four metabolic tests, based on administration of glucose, protein, fat, or mixed-meal. Glucagon, glucose, insulin, and C-peptide were measured at fasting and for 300 min following food ingestion. We analyzed relationships between time samples of glucagon, glucose, and insulin in each individual, as well as between suprabasal area-under-the-curve of the same variables (ΔAUCGLUCA, ΔAUCGLU, ΔAUCINS) over the whole participants’ cohort.

** Results: ** in individuals, time samples of glucagon and glucose were related in only 26 cases (18 direct, 8 inverse relationships), whereas relationship with insulin was more frequent (60 and 5, p < 0.0001). The frequency of significant relationships was different among tests, especially for direct relationships (p ≤ 0.006). In the whole cohort, ΔAUCGLUCA was weakly related to ΔAUCGLU (p ≤ 0.02), but not to ΔAUCINS, though basal insulin secretion emerged as possible covariate.

** Conclusions: ** glucose and insulin are not general and exclusive determinants of glucagon secretion/inhibition after mixed-meal or macronutrients ingestion.

** Keywords: ** glucagon determinants; glucagon shape; glucose; glucose homeostasis; individual associations; lipids; mathematical modeling; mixed meal; nutrients; proteins.

Publication types

• Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

• Area Under Curve
• Blood Glucose / metabolism*
• C-Peptide / blood*
• Cross-Over Studies
• Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / blood
• Fasting / blood*
• Female
• Glucagon / blood*
• Glucose Tolerance Test
• Humans
• Insulin / blood*
• Male
• Meals
• Middle Aged
• Nutrients / administration & dosage*
• Nutrients / metabolism
• Time Factors

Substances

• Blood Glucose
• C-Peptide
• Insulin
• Glucagon