Blood glucose regulation is essential to prevent and maintain controlled serious diseases such as diabetes; so knowing how to regulate glucose levels in different situations is crucial. This is why a study led by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (Minnesota, USA), which includes the participation of Ana Belén Peinado, researcher at the Department of Health and Human Performance of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), shows new data on the role of peripheral chemoreceptors of the carotid bodies (responsible for the regulation of respiration) in the control of glucose levels during intense aerobic exercise is being practiced, with an intravenous infusion of dopamine. The work has been published in the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.
“Changes in glucose levels in peripheral or central blood are detected by glucose sensors located in the hypothalamic nuclei, the pancreas, the nucleus of the solitary tract, the hepatic portal system and the receptors of the carotid body,” explains Peinado.
“The results indicate that plasma glucose and the secretion of certain glycoregulatory hormones are attenuated when a low dose of exogenous dopamine is administered during a prolonged aerobic exercise in trained subjects,” she adds.
“This suggests that the peripheral chemoreceptors of the carotid bodies, or other glucurregulatory organs with dopamine receptors, can contribute to the regulation of blood glucose in exercise in active individuals,” says the UPM researcher.
The first study of this type in humans
The novelty of this work is that it is the first study in humans that specifically assesses the role of chemoreceptors of carotid bodies in the regulation of blood glucose during a normal physiological stimulus, such as exercise. “This work can establish an experimental model to study the regulation of glycemia in additional experiments, including patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes,” she says.
The research also provides new data on the pathologies related to the poor regulation of blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes, establishing that, in many cases, they also have problems with sleep apnea and altered hypoxia responses. “This could be explained by an alteration in the response of the carotid chemoreceptors, which would contribute to the pathophysiology of diabetes in this population,” concludes Ana Belén Peinado.
Source: SINC
