Regulation of Blood Glucose Level

In order to manage nutrient intake, the body uses hormones to moderate energy stores. Pancreatic cells produce the two hormones called insulin and glucagon to regulate the blood glucose level. These two hormones work in synergy to maintain homeostatic glucose control.

Diagram to show the organs involved in the regulation of blood glucose level. Starting from the top of the diagram there are red bloods cells represented by red ovals with the text that reads high blood sugar. A yellow curved arrows goes from these red blood cells to a simple illustration of the pancreas. This is to show that the high blood sugar promotes insulin release. From the pancreas there’s a branch to the word Insulin in a yellow rectangle. One arrow points from the insulin to the liver where glucose is converted into glycogen. A yellow arrow then goes from the liver to blood cells at the bottom of the diagram with a now lowered blood sugar. Another way of lowering the blood sugar is shown with an arrow from insulin to tissue cells as the release of insulin stimulates glucose uptake from blood therefore lowering blood sugar. Next feature of the diagram shows the process of raising the blood sugar represented on the diagram with blue arrows. It begins from the red blood cells with low blood sugar at the bottom of the diagram. A blue arrow goes from these blood cells to the pancreas which promotes glucagon release. An arrow points from the pancreas to a blue rectangle with the word glucagon. An arrow from glucagon points to the liver where the breakdown of glycogen to glucose is shown. A blue arrow then points from the liver to blood cells at the top of the diagram with a raised blood sugar.

Figure 1: On the one hand insulin decreases the blood glucose level and on the other hand glucagon increases the blood glucose level.