Main Organs Involved in Glucose Metabolism

Abstract

Sugar, or technically known as glucose, is the main source of energy of all cells in the human body. The glucose homeostasis cycle is the mechanism to maintain blood glucose levels in a healthy threshold. When this natural mechanism is broken, many metabolic disorders appear such as diabetes mellitus, and some substances of interest, like glucose, are out of control. In the mechanism to maintain blood glucose, several organs are involved but the role of most of them has been disregarded in the literature. In this chapter, the main organs involved in such a mechanism and their role in glucose metabolism are described. Specifically, the stomach and small intestine, organs of the gastrointestinal system, are the first to play an important role in the regulatory system, because it is where carbohydrates are digested and absorbed as glucose into the bloodstream. Then glucose as a simple substance goes to the liver to be stored as glycogen. Glucose storage occurs due to the delivery of hormones from the pancreas, which produces, stores, and releases insulin and glucagon, two antagonistic hormones with an important role in glucose metabolism. The kidneys assist the liver in insulin clearance in the postprandial state and gluconeogenesis in the post absorptive state. Physiological aspects and the detailed role of every organ involved in glucose metabolism are described in this chapter.