The Endocrine Pancreas 1 and 2 Flashcards
What are the two centres that are responsible for regulating how much food we take in?
Feeding centre (hunger)
Satiety centre (fullness, by suppressing the hunger centre)
What controls the feeding centre and the satiety centre?
Controlled by a complex balance of neural and chemical signals as well as the presence of nutrients in plasma.
What is meant by the glucostatic theory?
As blood glucose concentration increases the drive to eat decreases
What is meant by the lipostatic theory?
As fat stores increase the drive to eat decreases
What is the role of leptin?
A peptide hormone released by fat stores which depresses feeding activity
What are the three categories of energy output?
Cellular work transporting molecules across membranes; growth and repair; storage of energy (eg. fat, glycogen, ATP synthesis).
Mechanical work – movement, either on large scale using muscle or intracellularly (skeletal muscle is the only portion of energy output that we can regulate voluntarily)
Heat loss - associated with cellular and mechanical work accounts for half our energy output
What is meant by metabolism?
The integration of all biochemical reactions in the body
What are the three elements of metabolism?
Extracting energy from nutrients in food
Storing that energy
Utilising that energy for work
What are anabolic pathways?
Build Up. Net effect is synthesis of large molecules from smaller ones, usually for storage purposes.
What are catabolic pathways?
Break Down. Net effect is degradation of large molecules into smaller ones, releasing energy for work.
Describe the absorptive state we enter after having a meal
Ingested nutrients supply the energy needs of the body and excess is stored
ANABOLIC PHASE
Describe the fasted state or post - absorptive state
The pool of nutrients in the plasma decreases and we enter a post-absorptive state where we rely on body stores to provide energy
CATABOLIC PHASE
What can the brain use as a supply of energy?
Glucose or Ketones
How is blood glucose maintained?
By synthesising glucose from the glycogen (glycogenolysis) or amino acids (gluconeogenesis)
Why is glucose detected in the urine of those with diabetes?
Glucose cannot be taken up by cells
What is the normal range of blood glucose?
4.2 - 6.3 mM (80-120 mg/dl)
Roughly around 5 mmoles
Regulated by insulin and glucagon
What are the different portions of the pancreas that are related to hormone production?
99% of the pancreas operates as an exocrine gland (enzymes and NaHCO3 via the ducts into the alimentary canal to support digestion)
1% - endocrine function (islets of langerhans)
What are the four types of islet cell and what do they produce?
alpha cells produce GLUCAGON
beta cells produce INSULIN
delta cells produce SOMATOSTATIN
F cells produce pancreatic polypeptide (function not really known, may help control of nutrient absorption from the GIT)
What hormone predominates in a fed state vs a fasted state?
Fed state: Insulin dominates
Fasted state: Glucagon dominates
How does insulin affect glucose oxidation, glycogen synthesis, fat synthesis and protein synthesis?
All increase
How does glucagon affect glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis?
All increase
What is the precursor of insulin?
Preproinsulin
Which is then converted to proinsulin in the ER.
Proinsulin is then packaged as granules in secretory vesicles. Within the granules the proinsulin is cleaved again to give insulin and C-peptide. Insulin is stored in this form until the b cell is activated and secretion occurs.
What stimulates insulin secretion (from pancreatic B cells)?
Both glucose and aa’s stimulate insulin secretion but the major stimulus is blood glucose concentration.
Which hormone dominates the absorptive state?
Insulin dominates the absorptive state. Only hormone which lowers [BG].








