Research
Hormonal
Somatostatin infusion suppresses hyperglucagonemia and markedly reduces hyperglycemia in Type 1 Diabetic humans, even when insulin is reduced or discontinued.
In humans, suppressing glucagon with somatostatin lowers blood sugar even with low insulin. This supports the idea that targeting glucagon is a viable therapeutic strategy, though somatostatin's side effects limit its use.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
When somatostatin was infused into... insulin-deprived humans with T1DM... hyperglucagonemia was suppressed and hyperglycemia was markedly decreased, even though insulin had been reduced or discontinued.
Why this rating
Human studies confirm the mechanism, but long-term use is limited by side effects.
Source
Glucagonocentric restructuring of diabetes: a pathophysiologic and therapeutic makeover
Roger H. Unger et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2012
DOI 10.1172/jci60016
narrative_reviewCited 667×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Glucagon receptor blockade or suppression prevents the catabolic consequences of insulin deficiency (hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis) in animal models.Strong
- In Type 1 Diabetes, hyperglucagonemia (excess glucagon) is the primary cause of hyperglycemia and catabolic symptoms, rather than insulin deficiency alone.Good
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →