Measurement of Gastrointestinal Hormones.

Measurement of Gastrointestinal Hormones. Dan Med J. 2017 Nov;64(11): Authors: Albrechtsen NJW Abstract Towards the end of the 20th century, the number of subjects with diabetes and obesity rose exponentially. The discoveries of insulin- and appetite-modulating chemical signals, including glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), secreted from the gastrointestinal system, led to development of a new group of drugs which now are being used for glucose-lowering therapy and weight loss. Understanding of the physiology of gut derived signals and their pathophysiologi-cal importance requires accurate measurements of their circulat-ing levels. However, the assessment of these gut-derived hor-mones has been hampered by numerous preanalytical and analyti-cal challenges. We focused on three members of the proglucagon family; glucagon, oxyntomodulin and GLP-1, aiming to meet both preanalytical and analytical challenges and to elucidate their implication in diseases including diabetes. First, we studied (Study 1) the preanalytical and storage conditions of GLP-1 and glucagon in humans, demonstrating that inappropriate sample handling may cause up to 50% variation in the RESULTS. Using robust meas-uring METHODS ensuring optimal conditions for preanalytical han-dling of these peptides, we then focused on plasma concentra-tions of glucagon and oxyntomodulin in different clinical condi-tions, including type 2 diabetes and bariatric surgery, because abnormal...
Source: Danish Medical Journal - Category: General Medicine Tags: Dan Med J Source Type: research