An endocrine organ important to the metabolism of food and to the regulation of HUNGER and SATIETY. At the beginning of a meal GLUCOSE is absorbed into the blood stream from food in the intestine. When glucose reaches the pancreas, it causes the pancreas to secrete the hormone INSULIN into the blood. Insulin is required into order to allow muscle cells and other body tissue to take up glucose and use or store it.
Without insulin, glucose cannot be used as a source of energy by the body, and levels of glucose build up in the blood. This condition occurs in some forms of DIABETES. Low levels of insulin in the blood stream, which would normally be produced by eating a meal, act on the brain to induce satiety. Very high levels of insulin cause body cells to take up all available blood glucose, depleting the level of glucose available to the brain, and creating a cue for hunger. Conversely, the pancreas may secrete a second hormone, GLUCAGON, under fasting conditions. This hormone causes body stores of ENERGY, GLYCOGEN and fat cells (ADIPOCYTES) to release glucose and other fuel components into the blood.
