14.

3 Control of blood glucose concentration

The control of the concentration of glucose in the blood is a

very important part of homeostasis
• Cells need a steady supply of glucose for cell respiration
to release energy the needed
• Brain cells are especially dependent on glucose for
respiration and die quiet quickly if they are deprived
(алдагдах) of it
On the other hand
• Too much glucose in the blood is not good either
• It can cause water to move out of cells and into the blood by
osmosis
• This leaves the cells with too little water for them to carry out
their normal metabolic process
• The control of blood glucose concentration is carried out by
the pancreas and the liver
 The pancreas is two glands in one

• Most of it is an ordinary gland with duct (суваг)

• It makes pancreatic juice, which flows along the pancreatic
duct into the duodenum (12 хуруу гэдэс)
• Scattered through the pancreas, however, are groups of cells
called islets of Langerhans
• These cells do not make pancreatic juices
• They make two kinds of hormones called insulin and
glucagon
• These hormones help the liver to control the amount of
glucose in the blood
• Insulin has effect of lowering blood glucose concentration
• Glucagon does the opposite
 Insulin (hormone)

1. If you eat a meal which provides a lot of glucose, the

concentration of glucose in the blood goes up
2. islets of Langerhans detect this, and secrete insulin into the
blood
3. When insulin reaches the liver, it causes the liver to absorb
glucose from the blood
4. Some of glucose used for respiration, but some converted
into the insoluble polysaccharide, glycogen
5. This is stored in the liver
 Glucagon (hormone)

1. If the blood glucose concentration falls too low, the

pancreas secretes glucagon
2. This causes liver cells to break down glycogen to glucose,
and release into the blood
3. The blood glucose concentration rises, reach to the normal
level
 Diabetes (чихрийн шижин)

• When the control of blood glucose concentration does not

work, a person is said to have diabetes
• Type I – it is caused by the death of the cells that secrete
insulin
• It is thought to result from the body’s own immune system
attacking and destroying the cells in the pancreas that secrete
insulin
• Type I usually develops when a person is a young child
1. Eat meal contain a lot of carbohydrate
2. Concentration of glucose in the blood increases
3. Normally, this would trigger the secretion of insulin from
the pancreas
4. But person with Type I diabetes this does not happen
(glucose concentration goes up and stays up -
hyperglycaemia)
 Symptoms (Type I)

• Dry mouth
• Blurred vision
• Feel very thirsty
• Heart rate increase
• Breathing rate increase
Need to inject themselves with insulin to reduce blood
glucose concentration
 Type II - hypoglycemia
On the other hand
1. Not eating carbohydrate for a long time will cause the blood glucose
concentration to drop very low
2. No insulin has been secreted
3. Liver has not built-up stores of glycogen (be broken down to
produce glucose)
4. Cells do not have a supply of glucose to release energy by
respiration
5. The person feels very tired and may show confusion and irrational
behavior
6. Eventually, they can become unconscious
1. Having blood glucose concentration that swing (савлах)
very high and very low, over long periods of time, do
damage to numerous body organs
2. It is important that a person with type 1 diabetes tries to
keep their blood glucose concentration normal limits
3. People with diabetes get into the habit of checking their
blood glucose concentration regularly
4. They can also test their urine for glucose, using a simple
dipstick (dip - дүрэх)