Insulin is a hormone of the pancreas. Functions of insulin

Insulin is a vital hormone that is produced in the pancreas. Chemically, it is a protein that regulates blood glucose levels. The insulin level varies widely. If the hormone is not produced enough, a person begins to develop type 2 diabetes, which can lead to serious complications.

Insulin is a hormone of which gland?

It should immediately be noted that all the processes occurring in any organ are a very complex, but nevertheless interconnected system.

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, or more precisely, by formations located in its very depths. In medicine they are also called islets of Langerhans-Sobolev. By the way, note that insulin is a hormone that affects almost all functions in the human body. It belongs to the peptide series and is created to qualitatively saturate all cells of the body with necessary substances. The pancreatic hormone insulin is capable of transporting potassium, various amino acids, and most importantly, glucose through the blood. The latter is responsible for the balance of carbohydrates. The scheme is this: you eat food, the level of glucose in the body increases, therefore, the level of insulin in the blood increases. We often hear in medicine about such a substance as insulin. Everyone immediately associates it with diabetes. But to answer a simple question: “Insulin is a hormone of what, an organ or a tissue? Or maybe it is produced by the whole system?” - not every person can.

Insulin (hormone) - functions in the human body

Think for yourself, the action of the hormone insulin is to ensure normal nutrition of all cells of the body. It is primarily responsible for establishing the balance of carbohydrates in the human body. But when the pancreas malfunctions, protein and fat metabolism simultaneously suffer. Keep in mind that insulin is a protein hormone, which means it can enter the human stomach from the outside, but it will be quickly digested there and not absorbed at all. The action of the hormone insulin is to influence most enzymes. But its main task, according to scientists and doctors, is the timely reduction of glucose in the blood. Doctors often prescribe a special test that will clearly reveal whether the patient’s insulin hormone is elevated or not. Thus, it is possible to determine whether the patient’s ailments are associated with incipient diabetes mellitus or with another disease. Of course, you can live with such a diagnosis, the main thing is to detect it in time and begin supportive therapy.

Preparing for analysis

Reliable research values ​​are achieved by following the list of recommendations:

1. A prerequisite for taking blood is to donate blood on an empty stomach. The duration of fasting should be at least 8-14 hours. Drinking water without gas is allowed.
2. Avoid drinking alcohol and smoking before taking blood.
3. Complex sets of physical exercises and strenuous training should be excluded.
4. Taking medications in preparation for diagnostic procedures should be agreed with the attending physician. Provided that they cannot be canceled, you need to warn the biochemical laboratory specialists about this.
5. It is not recommended to carry out blood sampling procedures immediately after physiotherapeutic procedures, ultrasound, radiographic and other examinations.
6. You should not combine a prostate biopsy and sigmoidoscopy on the same day with an insulin test.

Tests can be taken at municipal medical institutions or commercial clinics. The latter option is more often considered when the patient does not have free time or in emergency cases. The price for the study depends on the region and varies from 680 rubles and above. It should be noted that this amount does not include blood sampling, the cost of which is 199 rubles.

Medical standards for insulin

Any indicator has a certain scale of values ​​by which one can judge the patient’s condition. If we say that insulin is a hormone of the pancreas, it is worth understanding that after each meal it can be increased. Therefore, there are some standards for taking tests. You must not eat 1.5 hours before or come for the study strictly on an empty stomach.

Then there is a high probability of a reliable result. The most basic thing that the doctor is trying to understand is whether the patient has diabetes, and if other problems arise, prescribe appropriate additional tests and medications. Let us immediately note that each medical laboratory or institution is able to indicate its individual values ​​of the studied indicator, which will ultimately be considered normal. In principle, the hormone insulin, the norm of which on an empty stomach will average 3-28 µU/ml, may also vary slightly. Therefore, when receiving analysis results, try not to panic, but rather visit a competent specialist to decipher them. For example, pregnant women have indicators that differ from other people (on average 6-28 µU/ml). When a doctor suspects diabetes mellitus, it makes sense to mention its two main types:

- the hormone insulin is reduced - the pancreas cannot cope with its job and produces it in insufficient quantities - type 1 diabetes;

- the hormone insulin is increased - the opposite situation is when there is a lot of the corresponding substance in the body, but it does not feel it and produces even more - type 2 diabetes.

Insulin resistance, its symptoms and methods of correction

If the state of elevated insulin levels persists for a long time and is not corrected in any way, insulin resistance occurs. Insulin resistance

- this is the insensitivity of cells to insulin, the inability for cells, figuratively speaking, to take glucose for use. As a result, the pancreas produces even more insulin to help glucose enter the cell. And as long as it is able to produce enough insulin, your sugar levels will remain normal.

This is why in people with insulin resistance, sugar levels can remain normal for a long time. Insulin resistance is a risk factor for a variety of diseases and conditions, such as metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, polycystic ovary syndrome and others.

The problem is that insulin resistance may not manifest itself in any way and may exist even in people with a normal body mass index. However, there are still some risk factors, namely

:

• Overweight or obesity.
• Age 45 years and above, although this disease is rapidly becoming younger.
• Family history of type 2 diabetes.
• Passive lifestyle.
• Hypertension and elevated low-density cholesterol.
• History of gestational diabetes.
• Polycystic disease.

Insulin resistance does not manifest itself for a long time, but there are a number of symptoms that can make you pay attention to this problem

:

• Papillomas, especially their accumulation in the same places - often the neck.
• Hyperpigmentation in skin folds, known as acanthosis nigricans.
• Retinopathy.
• Hunger intolerance, drowsiness after eating.
• High blood pressure.

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To correct insulin resistance, changes in diet and lifestyle are used primarily. Nutrition certainly influences insulin resistance. Minimum measures we can take

:

• It is necessary to eliminate sugar, eating only complex carbohydrates and some simple carbohydrates from fruits and berries with less fructose.
• Limit consumption of dairy products due to their high insulin index.
• Reduce coffee and caffeinated drinks to 1-2 per day.
• Reduce the number of calories adequate to their consumption.
• Avoid snacking on foods that increase insulin levels in the blood.

Often, a keto or LCHF diet is used to restore insulin sensitivity. Its essence is to reduce carbohydrate intake to a minimum and high fat intake. This type of eating encourages the body to burn fat as its main source of fuel (not only the fat that a person consumes in his diet, but also that stored in his body).

The approximate distribution of BJU on the LCHF diet is as follows - 20/65/15%, while on the keto diet carbohydrates are limited to 5%.

Does insulin affect human growth?

Nowadays, various drugs for increasing muscle and bone tissue may be easy to obtain. This is usually practiced by athletes who need to gain weight in a short time and make their body more prominent. I would like to immediately note that insulin and growth hormone are closely interrelated. How this happens is difficult to figure out, but possible. Growth hormone is a drug belonging to the peptide series. It is he who is able to cause accelerated development of muscles and tissues. Its action is as follows: it has a powerful effect on muscle growth, while burning large amounts of fat. Of course, this cannot but affect carbohydrate metabolism in the body. The mechanism is simple: growth hormone directly increases blood glucose levels. At the same time, the pancreas, which is functioning normally, begins to work harder, producing insulin in large quantities. But if you use this drug in uncontrolled doses, the organ described above cannot cope with the load, and accordingly, glucose in the blood increases, and this is fraught with the appearance of a disease called diabetes. Remember one simple formula:

low blood sugar – growth hormone enters the body in large quantities;

- high blood sugar - insulin is produced in large quantities.

Growth hormone - the course and its dosage should be prescribed to athletes only by experienced trainers or doctors. Because excessive use of this drug can lead to dire consequences for future health. Many are inclined to believe that when injecting yourself with growth hormone, you should definitely help the functioning of your own pancreas, using appropriate doses of insulin.

Differences between the insulin index and the glycemic index

The development of research technologies and modern instruments have made it possible to conduct a number of studies and accurately estimate not only the amount of glucose that enters the blood, but also the time during which insulin helps to get rid of it.

The introduction of the concept of the insulin index was also inspired by the knowledge of the fact that not only carbohydrates command the pancreas to produce insulin. Meat and fish - products that do not contain carbohydrates or are characterized by a low content of them, during digestion, also contribute to the release of insulin into the blood.

Insulin index (II)

– a value that characterizes a food product from the point of view of the insulin response to it.

This indicator is especially important for type 1 diabetics and allows you to more accurately predict the amount of insulin injection. It would also do well for those watching their figure to pay more attention to this indicator. The fact is that when the level of glucose in the blood increases excessively, the pancreas has to produce more insulin to absorb the excess sugar. And when sugar drops below a certain level, a person begins to feel hungry again.

In addition, increased work of the pancreas over a long period depletes it and leads to metabolic disorders and hormone production. Products with a very high AI, moreover, give the body a signal to store fat and block lipase, the main fat-burning enzyme. But food with a low and medium insulin index does not cause a sharp jump in blood sugar levels, does not overload the pancreas with work, and a person feels full longer.

The main difference between the glycemic index and the insulin index is the different measurement of indicators. That is, the main task of GI is to measure glucose (therefore, for the most part, this indicator is applied to carbohydrates), and AI is to measure insulin (applies to any products, even those that do not contain carbohydrates). This is where the main difference lies.

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The glycemic index and insulin index are not always proportional to each other. For example, cottage cheese causes a very large release of insulin, although it has a low glycemic index and contains virtually no carbohydrates. That is, cottage cheese slightly increases blood sugar, but there is still a strong insulin response. This is a very important point, especially if you want to burn fat, because insulin interferes with weight loss. If you want to achieve good results, then when planning your diet you need to take both indicators into account, since each is important in its own way.

A woman and a man - are their insulin levels the same?

Naturally, many tests directly depend on the gender and age category of the patient.

It has already become clear that the pancreatic hormone (insulin) is responsible for controlling blood glucose levels. Therefore, in order to evaluate the functioning of this organ, it will be enough to donate blood for sugar. This study is carried out by taking blood from a vein strictly on an empty stomach. Remember the following indicators by which you can assess whether the hormone insulin is produced in sufficient quantities in your body. The norm for women and men is the same: the concentration of glucose in the blood will be 3.3-5.5 mmol/l. If it is in the range of 5.6-6.6 mmol/l, then it would be advisable to follow a special diet and conduct additional research. This is the so-called borderline state, when it is still pointless to talk about diabetes. You need to start worrying already if the blood glucose level is close to 6.7 mmol/l. In this case, doctors advise taking the following test - glucose tolerance. Here are slightly different numbers:

— 7.7 mmol/l and below – normal value;

- 7.8-11.1 mmol/l - disturbances in the operation of the system are already observed;

- above 11.1 mmol/l - the doctor can talk about diabetes mellitus.

From the results described above, it becomes clear that women and men have approximately the same insulin levels, i.e., gender does not have any effect on this. But pregnant women should remember that in their interesting situation there are specific deviations from the current norms. This often occurs because the pancreas does not produce enough of the hormone insulin, and blood sugar rises. Usually everything is regulated by a special diet, but sometimes doctors in this case talk about diabetes mellitus in pregnant women. Children are still a separate category, since at their early age, due to the underdevelopment of the nervous system and insufficiently active functioning of all organs, the level of glucose in the blood can be lowered. But its increase (5.5-6.1 mmol/l) also needs to be dealt with in more detail, because this may be due to a violation of the rules for taking the test itself.

The concept of glycemic index and glycemic load

Before introducing the concept of insulin index, it is worth considering the more well-known and more often used concept of “glycemic index”.

The glycemic index (GI) characterizes the degree of absorption of complex carbohydrates from food and the subsequent level of blood saturation with glucose.

The GI value depends on the ability of complex carbohydrates to be broken down under the influence of digestive enzymes and on a number of “external” factors associated with cultivation, production technologies, storage conditions and culinary processing of food.

The GI value was determined experimentally - after taking a certain product, for 2 hours, every 15 minutes, a blood sugar test was carried out. Naturally, for such a comparison of the behavior of dietary carbohydrates and compiling a table, we took ordinary glucose as the starting point - absorption of 100 g = 100% or 1 g of glucose equals 1 conventional GI unit.

After a snack, the amount of sugar in your blood rises within 30 minutes. If you eat fast carbohydrates, then this time is reduced. The pancreas strives to reduce glucose levels, produces insulin and directs it to the body's needs: either for energy or for reserves. It depends on what kind of carbohydrates and how much you ate - fast or slow. The fast ones cause a sharp jump and create a surplus, while the slow ones feed the body gradually. Therefore, when reducing the total caloric content of the diet, foods with a low GI are preferable - they maintain a feeling of fullness longer at the same calorie content.

Pros of low GI foods

:

• Gradually nourishes the body and prolongs the feeling of fullness.
• Does not cause a sharp increase in blood glucose.
• They don’t have time to get into the adipose tissue, because slowly spent on the needs of the body.

Disadvantages of Low GI Foods

:

• They take a long time to replenish glycogen stores, so they are not suitable for quickly obtaining energy.
• Low energy density. For example, it is impossible to get a large amount of carbohydrates from buckwheat, because such volumes are simply impossible to eat. Therefore, to quickly replenish energy, you need fast carbohydrates.
• Taste. In general, low GI foods are not as tasty as high GI foods.

Simultaneously with GI, the concept of Glycemic Load (GL) was introduced, because the metabolism of carbohydrate metabolism is affected not only by the structure of carbohydrates, but also by their direct quantity.

GN allows you to characterize the load on the pancreas experienced when producing the required amount of insulin in response to a specific food product. For example, the load from 50 g of potato carbohydrates is 3 times higher than from the same 50 g of vermicelli carbohydrates. Some considered this to be a low workload.

What is glucagon?

So, from the above it follows that insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. But, in addition to this, this organ is responsible for the production of other substances, such as glucagon and C-peptide. We are very interested in the functions of the first of them. After all, in fact, they are directly opposite to the work of insulin. Accordingly, it becomes clear that the hormone glucagon increases blood sugar levels. Thus, these substances maintain the glucose level in a neutral state. It is worth noting that the hormones insulin and glucagon are substances that are produced by just one of the many organs of the human body. In addition to them, there are still a huge number of tissues and systems that do the same thing. And these hormones are not always enough for good blood sugar levels.

Increased insulin - what does it mean?

Of course, an increase in this indicator will not always lead to diabetes mellitus.

One of the most common consequences can be obesity, and only then the disease of high blood sugar. Often, doctors and nutritionists, in order to explain to their patients the simple mechanism of excess weight formation, begin their story by answering a simple question: “Insulin is a hormone of which gland?” After all, people who eat large amounts of carbohydrate foods (for example, flour and sweet dishes) do not think about the load their pancreas experiences. Of course, you can eat these foods, but in moderate portions, then the whole system works organically. In general, with this diet, the following happens: insulin increases constantly (i.e., this process takes on a chronic form), but sugar enters the body in unlimited quantities, and as a result, it is simply stored in fat. And remember that in this case the appetite is greatly increased. A vicious circle, from which it will be very difficult for you to get out, is ensured: you eat a lot of unhealthy food and densely - insulin is increased - fat is deposited - appetite increases - again we eat in unlimited quantities. It is best to contact specialists in a timely manner who will prescribe appropriate diets and all the necessary tests.

Release form

Insulin preparations go on sale in the form of solutions or suspensions, packaged in glass hermetically sealed bottles (5-10 ml). The top of the cork is rolled with an aluminum cap. For use in conjunction with a syringe pen, medicines are packaged in special cartridges (cases, cartridges).

For use in medical institutions, the drug can be in the form of a soluble white powder. It contains at least 3.1% sulfur. To introduce it into the body, it is diluted with special water for injection with the addition of hydrochloric acid, glycerin, and a solution of phenol (tricresol).

Diabetes

This is a terrible disease that became the so-called plague of the 20th century. And not only because of the large number of sick people, but also because of the reasons for its appearance and the decreasing age of patients. Now diabetes mellitus can occur not only in an elderly person, who is, in principle, prone to this disease due to the deterioration of the functioning of all his organs, but also in young children. Scientists around the world are trying to find the answer to this difficult question. After all, it turns out that a child with diabetes must maintain normal insulin levels throughout his entire life. It is not difficult to identify this disease; an experienced doctor should prescribe several simple tests. First, blood is tested for sugar and it is determined whether it is elevated. If the result is positive, they proceed as follows: they conduct a glucose tolerance test and make an appropriate diagnosis. When diabetes is confirmed, the doctor needs to understand how much of the hormone being studied is specifically lacking in your body. To do this, you should take an insulin test. Here you need to understand that there are only two types of diabetes:

- 1st: insulin is reduced, while blood glucose is correspondingly increased. As a result, urination increases and sugar is found in the urine;

- 2nd: an increase in insulin is observed. Why is this happening? There is also glucose in the blood, insulin is produced, but the body’s sensitivity to it decreases, i.e., it doesn’t seem to see it. In this case, it makes sense to prescribe special studies, such as a blood test for immunoreactive insulin.

Since insulin is a hormone of the pancreas, it would be logical to believe that in the case of diabetes mellitus, the doctor will also prescribe medications for the normal functioning of this organ. But the body will also need insulin coming from outside. Therefore, you need to purchase the necessary medications. By the way, when the diagnosis is made and you need to independently measure the level of glucose in your blood at home every day, it would be advisable to purchase a device known to everyone - a glucometer. It allows you to easily find out the required value in a few seconds. Using disposable needles, you make a small puncture on your finger and collect the blood with a test strip. You insert it into the glucometer and the result is ready. Usually it turns out to be reliable.

What drugs contain insulin?

It’s worth mentioning right away that all medications containing insulin should be prescribed strictly by your attending physician; there should be no self-medication, its consequences are too dangerous. A person who has diabetes simply needs insulin (hormone) supplied from outside.

The functions of the pancreas, which cannot cope with its work on its own, must be constantly maintained. How to understand how much insulin a particular patient will need? This figure is measured in special carbohydrate units. Simply put, you count how many carbohydrates are in each food, and, accordingly, understand how much insulin you will have to inject to lower blood sugar. Of course, there are various analogues of drugs containing insulin. For example, when we are talking about a reduced hormone, when in fact the pancreas cannot cope with its work, it is worth resorting to medications that can activate its activity (for example, the drug “Butamide”). In principle, we can say that this is not purely insulin introduced into your body, but only a substance that in one way or another will help the body recognize this hormone produced by its own corresponding organ. Anyone who has ever encountered the problem of diabetes understands perfectly well that currently all drugs aimed at combating it are produced in the form of injections for injections. Naturally, scientists all over the world are puzzling over how to make this procedure easier and find a medicine in another form (for example, tablets). But so far to no avail. In principle, for those who are accustomed to daily procedures of this type, they already seem absolutely painless. Even children can make such an injection under their skin on their own. Typically, injected insulin begins to work on average after half an hour, and it reaches its maximum concentration in the blood after about 3 hours. The duration of its work is about 6 hours. Those who have already been definitely diagnosed with diabetes need to give themselves such injections three times a day: in the morning (necessarily on an empty stomach), at noon, and in the evening. Of course, the effect of administered insulin sometimes needs to be prolonged (in medical language this is called prolongation). This procedure can be done using the following suspensions: zinc-insulin (duration 10-36 hours), protamine-zinc-insulin (24-36 hours). They are administered subcutaneously or intramuscularly.

Nobel Prize

In 1923, the Nobel Committee awarded the Physiology or Medicine Prize to Banting and MacLeod, just 18 months after the drug was first reported at a meeting of the Association of American Physicians. This decision aggravated the already difficult relations between scientists, because Banting believed that MacLeod's contribution to the invention of insulin was greatly exaggerated; in Banting's opinion, the prize should have been divided between him and his assistant Best. To restore justice, Banting shared his share of the prize with Best, and McLeod with the biochemist Collip8.

The patent for the creation of insulin, owned by Banting, Best and Collip, was sold by scientists to the University of Toronto for $3. In August 1922, a cooperation agreement was concluded with the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co., which helped establish the production of the drug on an industrial scale.

More than 90 years have passed since the invention of insulin. Preparations of this hormone are being improved; since 1982, patients have been receiving human insulin, and in the 90s analogues of human insulin appeared - drugs with different durations of action, but we must remember the people who were at the origins of the creation of this drug, which saves the lives of millions every day of people.

Bibliography

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1. Bliss M. The discovery of insulin: the inside story. Publ. Am. Inst. Hist. Pharm. 1997;16:93-9. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11619903.

1. Karamitsos DT. The story of insulin discovery. Diabetes Res. Clin. Pract. 2011;93 Suppl 1:S2-8. doi:10.1016/S0168-8227(11)70007-9.

1. Banting Notebook: 1920-21. Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

1. Stylianou C, Kelnar C. The introduction of successful treatment of diabetes mellitus with insulin. JR Soc. Med. 2009;102(7):298-303. doi:10.1258/jrsm.2009.09k035.

1. Rosenfeld L. Insulin: discovery and controversy. Clin. Chem. 2002;48(12):2270-88. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12446492.

1. de Herder WW. Heroes in endocrinology: Nobel Prizes. Endocr. Connect. 2014;3(3):R94-R104. doi:10.1530/EC-14-0070.