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Review
. 2014 Sep;29(5):314-24.
doi: 10.1152/physiol.00069.2013.

Peripheral and central glucose sensing in hypoglycemic detection

Casey M Donovan  1 , Alan G Watts  2
Affiliations
Review

Peripheral and central glucose sensing in hypoglycemic detection

Casey M Donovan et al. Physiology (Bethesda). 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Hypoglycemia poses a serious threat to the integrity of the brain, owing to its reliance on blood glucose as a fuel. Protecting against hypoglycemia is an extended network of glucose sensors located within the brain and in the periphery that serve to mediate responses restoring euglycemia, i.e., counterregulatory responses. This review examines the various glucose sensory loci involved in hypoglycemic detection, with a particular emphasis on peripheral glucose sensory loci and their contribution to hypoglycemic counterregulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the author(s).

Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
The effect of lesioning visceral vagal vs. spinal afferents on the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia The peak epinephrine and norepinephrine responses to matched hyperinsulinemic-hypoglycemic clamps in nerve-intact controls (CON), hepatic vagotomized (HV), total subdiphragmatic vagotomized (TSV), and celiac-superior mesenteric ganglionectomized (CSMG) animals. Basal values (means ± SE) were not significantly different between groups, nor were any differences observed between control and vagotomized animals during hypoglycemia. However, animals in which the spinal afferent innervation of the portal-mesenteric vein was removed via celiac-superior mesenteric ganglionectomy demonstrate a substantial suppression in the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia. Figure adapted from Ref. .
FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 2.
The disparate response to slow- vs. rapid-onset hypoglycemia with portal-mesenteric denervation A and B: matched hyperinsulinemic-hypoglycemic clamps in which glucose is allowed to fall either slowly (−0.05 mM/min; A) or rapidly (−0.18 mM/min; B) for nerve-intact controls (CON) or animals undergoing portal-mesenteric vein sensory denervation via topical capsaicin (PMV-DN). C and D: the epinephrine response to hypoglycemia, which is severely blunted in PMV-DN animals with slow-onset hypoglycemia (C) but is largely unaffected by PMV-DN during rapid-onset hypoglycemia (D). E and F: the norepinephrine response to hypoglycemia, which is essentially eliminated in PMV-DN animals with slow-onset hypoglycemia (E) but is unaffected by PMV-DN during rapid-onset hypoglycemia (F). Figure adapted from Ref. .
FIGURE 3.
FIGURE 3.
A schematic diagram illustrating the extended neural network mediating hypoglycemic counterregulation The model provides for peripheral (PMV and carotid body) and central (hindbrain and hypothalamic) glucose sensory inputs that feed into integrative networks located in the hindbrain and hypothalamus. Utilizing neural pathways, these networks can integrate glucosensory information with other inputs to generate the appropriate output to premotor networks and ultimately the motoneurons generating the autonomic and neuroendocrine responses. Figure adapted from Ref. .
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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