Specialists from the Biocentre of the Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany, demonstrated that physical exercise can slow down the production of insulin, the international agency reports.
The researchers used the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as the object of study. Interestingly, this insect also secretes insulin following eating.
However, in the fly the hormone does not come from the pancreas as in humans, but is released by nerve cells in the brain.
The group of experts showed that the insect’s physical activity has a strong effect on its insulin-producing cells. In this regard, the researchers electrophysiologically measured the activity of these cells in walking and flying drosophila.
The result showed that when the drosophila begins to walk or fly, its insulin-producing cells are immediately inhibited, and when the fly stops moving, the activity of the cells increases once more rapidly, shooting above normal levels. .
First author of the publication, Sander Liessem, said: “Our hypothesis is that the low activity of insulin-producing cells during walking and flying contributes to the supply of sugars to meet the increased energy demand. We suspect that the increased activity following exercise helps to replenish the fly’s energy reserves, for example in the muscles.”
Sugar
In addition, the experts demonstrated that the rapid and behavior-dependent inhibition of insulin-producing cells is actively controlled by neural pathways.
“It is largely independent of changes in the blood sugar concentration of the fly. It makes a lot of sense that the body thus anticipates a greater demand for energy to avoid extreme fluctuations in blood sugar levels,” said study co-author Martina Held.
It should be noted that insulin is an essential hormone for humans and many other living beings. The best known function is to regulate sugar metabolism. How it does this is well known, but less is known regarding how it controls the activity of insulin-producing cells and consequently its secretion.
VTV/WIL/EMPG
