TY - JOUR

T1 - Four sidenotes about glucagon peptides

AU - Rehfeld, Jens F.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Century old glucagon is a classic pancreatic hormone. But today we also know that the glucagon gene is expressed at high levels at extrapancreatic sites – particularly so in the gut. Major hormonal glucagon gene products in the digestive tract are the two glucagon-like peptides (GLP-1 and ‐2). Of these, truncated GLP-1 has in recent decades attracted massive interest due to its incretin effect, and the subsequent GLP-1 derived design of potent diabetes and obesity drugs. Truncated GLP-1 has consequently become an important contributor to gastrointestinal endocrinology. The gastrointestinal branch of endocrinology today includes more than 100 bioactive peptides encoded by some 30 different hormone genes. Therefore, the gut is the largest endocrine organ in the body. In addition to a general discussion of glucagon peptides in the hierarchy of gut hormones, this review also includes three short notes about glucagon studies from the 1970s. These studies dealt with reactive hypoglycemia, chronic liver disease, and the secretory response of pancreatic glucagon to gastrin/cholecystokinin stimulation. Considering today's possibilities in molecular endocrinology, revisits to the questions raised by these studies might be worthwhile.

AB - Century old glucagon is a classic pancreatic hormone. But today we also know that the glucagon gene is expressed at high levels at extrapancreatic sites – particularly so in the gut. Major hormonal glucagon gene products in the digestive tract are the two glucagon-like peptides (GLP-1 and ‐2). Of these, truncated GLP-1 has in recent decades attracted massive interest due to its incretin effect, and the subsequent GLP-1 derived design of potent diabetes and obesity drugs. Truncated GLP-1 has consequently become an important contributor to gastrointestinal endocrinology. The gastrointestinal branch of endocrinology today includes more than 100 bioactive peptides encoded by some 30 different hormone genes. Therefore, the gut is the largest endocrine organ in the body. In addition to a general discussion of glucagon peptides in the hierarchy of gut hormones, this review also includes three short notes about glucagon studies from the 1970s. These studies dealt with reactive hypoglycemia, chronic liver disease, and the secretory response of pancreatic glucagon to gastrin/cholecystokinin stimulation. Considering today's possibilities in molecular endocrinology, revisits to the questions raised by these studies might be worthwhile.

KW - Cholecystokinin (CCK)

KW - Fatty liver

KW - Gastrin

KW - Gastrointestinal endocrinology

KW - Glucagon

KW - Glucagon-like peptides (GLP-1 and -2)

KW - Gut hormones

KW - Incretin

KW - Liver cirrhosis

KW - Reactive hypoglycemia

U2 - 10.1016/j.peptides.2022.170924

DO - 10.1016/j.peptides.2022.170924

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36521797

AN - SCOPUS:85144484791

VL - 159

JO - Peptides

JF - Peptides

SN - 0196-9781

M1 - 170924

ER -