Imagine you just ate a candy bar. research your body's hormonal response to this increase of sugar (glucose) in your bloodstream. in your laboratory journal, take notes on the steps your body goes through to control this increase. make sure to mention the glands involved, the hormones released and the response of target organs. think back to what you learned last year.

The negative feedback principle in human physiology is involved in this case. The inciting factor here is the increase in blood glucose that will be recognized by the pancreatic islet cells (the endocrine part of the pancreas) and will signal insulin release. Insulin upregulates glucose transporter proteins in cells, especially muscle cells, which will then stimulate glucose uptake from blood. Insulin also stimulates glycogen formation in the liver. These events will subsequently lower blood glucose and low blood glucose will now inhibit the insulin secretion by the pancreas. In the event of hypoglycemia or dangerously low blood glucose, the first adaptive mechanism of the body is to produce glucagon from the pancreatic islet cells. Glucagon will stimulate glycogen breakdown in the liver and therefore raise blood glucose levels to normal.