Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Preface to the third edition
- How to use this book
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Section 1 Clinical anaesthesia
- Section 2 Physiology
- Section 3 Pharmacology
- 1 Physical chemistry
- 2 Pharmacodynamics
- 3 Pharmacokinetics
- 4 Mechanisms of drug action
- 5 Anaesthetic gases and vapours
- 6 Hypnotics and intravenous anaesthetic agents
- 7 Analgesic drugs
- 8 Neuromuscular blocking agents
- 9 Local anaesthetic agents
- 10 Central nervous system pharmacology
- 11 Autonomic nervous system pharmacology
- 12 Cardiovascular pharmacology
- 13 Respiratory pharmacology
- 14 Endocrine pharmacology
- 15 Gastrointestinal pharmacology
- 16 Intravenous fluids
- 17 Pharmacology of haemostasis
- 18 Antimicrobial therapy
- 19 Clinical trials: design and evaluation
- Section 4 Physics, clinical measurement and statistics
- Appendix: Primary FRCA syllabus
- Index
- References
14 - Endocrine pharmacology
from Section 3 - Pharmacology
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Preface to the third edition
- How to use this book
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Section 1 Clinical anaesthesia
- Section 2 Physiology
- Section 3 Pharmacology
- 1 Physical chemistry
- 2 Pharmacodynamics
- 3 Pharmacokinetics
- 4 Mechanisms of drug action
- 5 Anaesthetic gases and vapours
- 6 Hypnotics and intravenous anaesthetic agents
- 7 Analgesic drugs
- 8 Neuromuscular blocking agents
- 9 Local anaesthetic agents
- 10 Central nervous system pharmacology
- 11 Autonomic nervous system pharmacology
- 12 Cardiovascular pharmacology
- 13 Respiratory pharmacology
- 14 Endocrine pharmacology
- 15 Gastrointestinal pharmacology
- 16 Intravenous fluids
- 17 Pharmacology of haemostasis
- 18 Antimicrobial therapy
- 19 Clinical trials: design and evaluation
- Section 4 Physics, clinical measurement and statistics
- Appendix: Primary FRCA syllabus
- Index
- References
Summary
Blood sugar control
The physiological control of blood glucose is complex. While the major role belongs to insulin, a multitude of other hormonal influences apply. It should also be remembered that insulin has other actions beyond the regulation of blood glucose. Pharmacological control of blood glucose becomes necessary in situations of elevation and depression of blood glucose beyond the homeostatic limits, in other words due to hyperglycaemia or hypoglycaemia. The causes of failure in regulation of blood glucose are given in Figure EP1.
Treatment of hypoglycaemia is directed towards administration of glucose and removal of the root cause. Treatment of hyperglycaemia includes removal of the cause, administration of insulin in the acute phase and at a later stage augmentation of both the secretion and effect of endogenous insulin.
Insulin receptor
The insulin receptor is a complex of four glycoprotein subunits (ααββ) linked by disulphide bridges to form a cylinder. The α units are entirely extracellular and contain the insulin binding site. The β subunit spans the cell membrane, and the intracellular part has tyrosine kinase activity. The α subunit has a repressive effect on this activity that is removed by the conformational change resulting from insulin binding. The tyrosine kinase acts on insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), triggering a chain of action culminating in the activation of glycogen synthetase, phosphorylase kinase and glycogen phosphorylase. IRS-1 is also a substrate for insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptors.
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- Information
- Fundamentals of Anaesthesia , pp. 678 - 684Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009