Glucagon Glucagon Glucagon is a peptide hormone, produced by alpha cells of the pancreas. It works to raise the concentration of glucose and fatty acids in the bloodstream, and is considered to be the main catabolic hormone of the body. It is also used as a medication to treat a number of health conditions. Its effect is opposite to that of insulin, which lowers the extracellular glucose. The pancreas releases glucagon when the concentration of insulin (and indirectly glucose) in the bloodstream falls too low. Glucagon causes the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose, which is released into the bloodstream.
Glucose major facilitator superfamily. In the small intestine (more precisely, in the jejunum), glucose is taken up into the intestinal epithelial cells with the help of glucose transporters via a secondary active transport mechanism called sodium ion-glucose symport via the sodium/glucose cotransporter 1. The further transfer occurs on the basolateral side of the intestinal epithelial cells via the glucose transporter GLUT2, as well as their uptake into liver cells, kidney cells, cells of the islets of Langerhans, nerve cells, astrocytes and tanyocytes. Glucose enters the liver via the vena portae and is stored there as a cellular glycogen. In the liver