Dynamic analysis of insulin and glucagon secretions

The interaction between insulin and glucagon secretions in an negative-positive relationship bolstered the concept that the net secretion of pancreatic hormones might be the product of specific interaction within the islet. However, how the interaction between A and B cells influences the secretion cycles is unclear. The authors developed a cell culture-microperifusion system that allowed them to study the detailed dynamics of pulsatile secretions for both hormones. The power spectrum and cross-correlation analysis were used to investigate their oscillation features and phase relationship. The result showed that both insulin and glucagon secretions behaved in a spontaneous, persistent, regular, pulsatile and out-of-phase fashion. The authors suggest that insulin is dominant in the interactive process, i.e., insulin is a master and glucagon is a slave.