Effects of glucagon-like peptide-1, yohimbine, and nitrergic modulation on sympathetic and parasympathetic activity in humans.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Glucagon.

Their aims were to assess the effects of a GLP-1 agonist with or without alpha(2)-adrenergic or -nitrergic blockade on autonomic nervous functions in humans.

Why It Was Studied

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), an incretin, which is used to treat diabetes mellitus in humans, inhibited vagal activity and activated nitrergic pathways.

However, the effects of GLP-1 on sympathetic activity in humans are unknown.

Who Took Part

The study group was 48 volunteers.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were teenagers, adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

In this double-blind study, 48 healthy volunteers were randomized to GLP-1-(7-36) amide, the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor N(G)-monomethyl-l-arginine acetate (l-NMMA), the alpha(2)-adrenergic antagonist yohimbine, or placebo (i.e., saline), alone or in combination.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

The volunteers were allocated by chance, so the Glucagon group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Blinding on both sides kept the volunteers and researchers unaware of who received Glucagon.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Glucagon could be set against what happens without it.

Hemodynamic parameters, plasma catecholamines, and cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation were measured by spectral analysis of heart rate.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists, Blood Glucose, Blood Pressure, Catecholamines, Enzyme Inhibitors, Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 and Heart Rate.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Glucagon in 48 volunteers.

The publication is from 2008 (American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Glucagon compound page, all human trials.