Role of intestinal glucagon-like peptide-1 in impaired counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia

Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus(T1DM)experience multiple episodes of hypoglycemia,resulting in dysfunctional counter-regulatory responses with time.The recent experimental study by Jin et al explored the role of intestinal glucagon-like peptide-1(GLP-1)in impaired counter-regulatory responses to hypoglycemia.They identified intestinal GLP-1 along with GLP-1 receptor(GLP-1R)as the new key players linked with impaired counter-regulatory responses to hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetic mice.They also demonstrated that excessive expression of GLP-1 and GLP-1R was associated with attenuated sympathoadrenal responses and decreased glucagon secretion.The study has enormous clinical relevance as de-fective counter regulation and hypoglycemia unawareness negatively impacts the intensive glycemic management approach in this group of patients.However,the physiological processes must be validated in dedicated human studies to compre-hensively understand the pathophysiology of this complex relationship,and to clarify the true extent of impaired hypoglycemia counter regulation by intestinal GLP-1.For now,following the results of the index study and other similar studies,GLP-1 analogues usage in T1DM must be carefully monitored,as there is an inherent risk of worsening the already impaired counter-regulatory responses in these patients.Further studies in the future could identify other key players in-volved in this clinically relevant interaction.