Somatostatin Leads to Glucagon's Renaissance

Abstract

In mammals, selective insulin deficiency, whether induced by administering alloxan or streptozotocin or by infusion of insulin antiserum, produces the same pattern of metabolic change as surgical pancreatectomy, a circumstance in which both insulin and glucagon-secreting cells have been removed. From these observations it became widely accepted that insulin lack plays the primary part in the acute diabetic syndrome of hyperglycemia, increased mobilization of lipids and ketogenesis. In birds and reptiles the islets of Langerhans are rich in glucagon, and, in contrast to mammals, total pancreatectomy results in hypoglycemia. It was concluded that in these two classes, glucagon had the . . .