Delay in ATP-dependent calcium inflow may affect insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cell

Abstract Any dysfunction in the secretion of insulin and/or in its use is critical in the development of type 2 diabetes. Calcium plays a very important role in the insulin secretion mechanism from beta-cell. In this paper, we studied the dynamic interaction of glucose-induced insulin secretion mechanism through glucose metabolism and ATP-dependent calcium influx. We proposed and analyzed a four dimensional system of nonlinear delay differential equations to give insights into different possible mechanisms for maintaining plasma glucose homeostasis through calcium-induced insulin secretion. The time duration between ATP formation and subsequent calcium influx through cell membrane has been found to be critical in maintaining insulin homeostasis. How variational effects of system parameters lead to various glycemic states are demonstrated. Possibility of new potential drug therapies is also discussed through parameter recalibration.