Insulin
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Insulin is a hormone that has extensive effects on metabolism and other body functions, such as vascular compliance. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and stopping use of fat as an energy source. When insulin is absent (or low), glucose is not taken up by body cells, and the body begins to use fat as an energy source, for example, by transfer of lipids from adipose tissue to the liver for mobilization as an energy source. As its level is a central metabolic control mechanism, its status is also used as a control signal to other body systems (such as amino acid uptake by body cells). It has several other anabolic effects throughout the body. When control of insulin levels fails, diabetes mellitus results.
Insulin is used medically to treat some forms of diabetes mellitus. Patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus depend on external insulin (most commonly injected subcutaneously) for their survival because the hormone is no longer produced internally. Patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus are insulin resistant, and because of such resistance, may suffer from a relative insulin deficiency. Some patients with Type 2 diabetes may eventually require insulin when other medications fail to control blood glucose levels adequately.
Insulin is a peptide hormone composed of 51 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 5808 Da. It is produced in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. The name comes from the Latin insula for "island".
Insulin's structure varies slightly between species of animal. Insulin from animal sources differs somewhat in 'strength' (in carbohydrate metabolism control effects) in humans because of those variations. Porcine (pig) insulin is especially close to the human version.
For more information about Insulin, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with insulin
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It is thought that the elevated levels of urea (the byproduct of protein breakdown that is excreted in the urine) in patients with end-stage kidney failure are not particularly toxic.
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Dec 01, 2009 |
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According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), youth with type 1 diabetes have now been found to have abnormal insulin resistance. Having abnor ...
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Nov 23, 2009 |
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Many people who are overweight or obese develop insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes at some stage in their lives. A European research team has now discovered that obese people have large amounts of the ...
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A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a direct link between insulin—a hormone long associated with metabolism and metabolic disorders such as diabetes—and core body temperature. While ...
Researchers discover mechanism of insulin production that can lead to better treatment for diabetes
Nov 12, 2009 |
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How a specific gene within the pancreas affects secretion of insulin has been discovered by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with Japanese and American universities. Their ...
New Test May Predict Heart Disease Events and the Effect of Weight Loss on Insulin Resistance
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemical fingerprints produced by the body's normal metabolic processes predict who will suffer cardiovascular events and who will benefit from weight loss by reduction of insulin resistance, according two ...
