Question

Human blood glucose (the amount of glucose in the blood) is sensed by chemoreceptors on the pancreas. When blood glucose is too low, the pancreas secretes the hormone glucagon. When glucagon binds to liver cells, it causes them to break glycogen down into glucose and release that glucose into the bloodstream. What will happen when the chemoreceptors on the pancreas sense that blood glucose levels are almost back up to normal (set point) again?

Answer 1

When blood glucose levels return to normal, chemoreceptors in the pancreas signal the reduction of glucagon secretion to stop the processes that increase blood glucose, thereby maintaining homeostasis.

Step-by-step explanation:

When chemoreceptors on the pancreas sense that blood glucose levels are almost back up to normal, the secretion of glucagon decreases. This is because the body uses a negative feedback mechanism to maintain homeostasis in blood glucose levels. As glucose levels return to the set point, the stimulus for glucagon release diminishes, signaling the alpha cells in the pancreas to reduce glucagon output. The decrease in glucagon allows for a decrease in the processes of glycogenolysis (the breakdown of glycogen to glucose) and gluconeogenesis (the production of glucose from amino acids and other substrates), stabilizing blood glucose levels back to normal.