Glucagon-like peptide-1 decreases intracerebral glucose content by activating hexokinase and changing glucose clearance during hyperglycemia.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Glucagon in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Positron emission tomography was used to determine the effect of GLP-1 on cerebral glucose transport and metabolism during a hyperglycemic clamp with (18)fluoro-deoxy-glucose as tracer.

Why It Was Studied

Reports indicate that glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) may be neuroprotective in models of AD and stroke: Although the mechanism is unclear, glucose homeostasis appears to be important.

The researchers conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study in nine healthy males.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, men only.

How the Study Was Run

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

Because people in this Glucagon study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Glucagon, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

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

Each person switched between Glucagon and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Alzheimer Disease, Biological Transport, Blood-Brain Barrier, Brain Chemistry, Brain Ischemia, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 and Fluorodeoxyglucose F18.

What This Means in Plain Language

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

The publication is from 2012 (Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism), a journal based in United States.

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