Question

explain howblood glucose level is maintained within the body

Answer 1

Here is the simplest explanation of the homeostatic adjustment of blood glucose levels. In this homeostatic system, the following components are present:

Pancreas : acts as the Monitor

Islets of Langerhans : acts as the Control Center

Liver, muscles & other body cells : act as Regulators.

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Case1: Blood Glucose level too high.

The pancreas, acting as the monitor, detects an abnormally high level of blood glucose and sends this information to the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas (acting as the control center). The Islets of Langerhans in turn increase their secretion of the hormone Insulin.
a). Insulin increases the amount of glucose absorbed by muscles and other (fat) cells of the body, facilitating it's conversion and storage as glycogen, a process called glycogenesis.
b). Also, insulin aids the liver in the conversion of glucose to glycogen, which is then stored in the liver.
c). Now, if the blood glucose levels remain elevated, the Islets of Langerhans secrete a third hormone called Somatostatin. The function of this hormone is to inhibit the activity of glucagon (which promotes conversion of glycogen to glucose), thus preventing any unnecessary extra glucose being dumped into the blood stream.

Hence, the elevated blood glucose levels are lowered to the normal levels.

Case 2: Blood Glucose level too low.

The pancreas detects an abnormally low blood glucose level and relays this information to the Islets of Langerhans. In response, the Islets of Langerhans increase their secretion of the hormone glucagon.
a). Glucagon promotes the conversion of glycogen to glucose in the liver, a process known as Glycogenolysis. In this process, the stored glycogen is converted to glucose phosphate, which then, through a series of reactions can be converted to free flowing glucose as needed.
b). Glucagon also promotes the conversion of fat stored in other (fat and muscle) cells of the body to glycerol and fatty acids, which can be further converted to glucose as needed.

Hence, blood glucose levels are restored.

This is all you need to know.

By the way, I found this picture which explains the process in very general terms., thought it might help.

http://fig.cox.miami.edu/~cmallery/150/p …

Hope this helps.


Source(s):
Life Sciences Student
http://fig.cox.miami.edu/~cmallery/150/p …

Answer 2

thank you...