Glucagon details
What Glucagon shows
Glucagon is a hormone made by alpha cells in the pancreas. It works in opposition to insulin: when your blood sugar falls, glucagon signals the liver to release stored glucose. Measuring glucagon in plasma can help investigate unexplained high or low blood sugar and how the pancreas is regulating it. A markedly higher result can point to a glucagonoma, a rare pancreatic tumor, but modest increases are also seen with diabetes, fasting, stress, kidney or liver disease. A lower result can be associated with loss of pancreatic tissue. Glucagon must be interpreted alongside your glucose and insulin levels, and the conditions under which the sample was taken.
Tests that include Glucagon
This test is primarily used to check for a specific type of tumor in the pancreas known as a glucagon-secreting tumor or glucagonoma. Glucagonomas can lead to a unique set of symptoms including a distinctive rash, mild diabetes, weight loss, and low levels of amino acids in the blood (hypoaminoacidemia). High levels of glucagon in the plasma confirm the presence of a glucagonoma.
- Glucagon Measures glucagon, a pancreatic hormone that raises blood sugar, used to investigate unusual blood sugar control or rare glucagon-producing tumors.
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