Glucagon’s Golden Jubilee at the University of Liège

Abstract

Long in the shade, glucagon is now back on the front scene. We review here our 50 year personal journey in the glucagon field. Glucagon is not the miracle anti-inflammatory agent it had been suggested. Glucagon does not act in concert with insulin in promoting peripheral tissue glucose uptake. Glucagon was the first polypeptidic hormone to be determined in the plasma by radio-immunoassay. Some glucagon is produced outside the pancreas. The secretion of glucagon is pulsatile and this optimizes the effect of glucagon on the liver. Hyperglucagonaemia is present in all forms of diabetes. As proposed by Unger and Orci, diabetes should be seen as a paracrinopathy of the islets of Langerhans in which intra-islet insulin deficiency results in increased glucagon release from the islet α-cells. Being involved in glucagon research for over half-a-century has been a joy and a privilege.