Cited by 55Diabetes Management and ResearchPancreatic function and diabetesDiabetes Treatment and Management

A Composite Model of Glucagon-Glucose Dynamics for In Silico Testing of Bihormonal Glucose Controllers

Open access
Herrero, Pau, Georgiou, Pantelis, Oliver, Nick, Reddy, Monika, Johnston, Desmond, Toumazou, Christofer·2013·Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology

Abstract

Background: The utility of simulation environments in the development of an artificial pancreas for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) management is well established. The availability of a simulator that incorporates glucagon as a counterregulatory hormone to insulin would allow more efficient design of bihormonal glucose controllers. Existing models of the glucose regulatory system that incorporates glucagon action are difficult to identify without using tracer data. In this article, we present a novel model of glucagon-glucose dynamics that can be easily identified with standard clinical research data. Methods: The minimal model of plasma glucose and insulin kinetics was extended to account for the action of glucagon on net endogenous glucose production by incorporating a new compartment. An existing subcutaneous insulin absorption model was used to account for subcutaneous insulin delivery. The same model of insulin pharmacokinetics was employed to model the pharmacokinetics of subcutaneous glucagon absorption. Finally, we incorporated an existing gastrointestinal absorption model to account for meal intake. Data from a closed-loop artificial pancreas study using a bihormonal controller on T1DM subjects were employed to identify the composite model. To test the validity of the proposed model, a bihormonal controller was designed using the identified model. Results: Model parameters were identified with good precision, and an excellent fitting of the model with the experimental data was achieved. The proposed model allowed the design of a bihormonal controller and demonstrated its ability to improve glycemic control over a single-hormone controller. Conclusions: A novel composite model, which can be easily identified with standard clinical data, is able to account for the effect of exogenous insulin and glucagon infusion on glucose dynamics. This model represents another step toward the development of a bihormonal artificial pancreas.

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Crossref · 10.1177/193229681300700416

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  • In these experimental conditions, this model and the other models of the literature are still suboptimal because they do not account for the glucagon evanescent effect visible in the data.

    “Nonetheless, in our experimental conditions, this [11] and the other models of the literature [10, 12–15] are still suboptimal since they do not account for the glucagon evanescent effect visible in the data (Fig. 1, Panel D).”

    From Modeling the effect of glucagon on endogenous glucose production in healthy individuals under meal-like conditions (2025) · cites this paper as [12]

    The Methods (page unavailable) identify the cited work as a glucagon–glucose model and describe how it represents glucagon action, supporting the identification of “this [11].” The paper does not assess the citing authors’ experimental conditions or say that its model fails to capture the evanescent effect visible in their data; that limitation is the citing authors’ own assessment. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Most existing mathematical models of postprandial endogenous glucose production suppression use plasma glucose and not endogenous glucose production as the variable to fit.

    “However, most of them use plasma glucose and not EGP as a variable to fit.”

    From Modeling the effect of glucagon on endogenous glucose production in healthy individuals under meal-like conditions (2025) · cites this paper as [12]

    The Methods (page unavailable) state that this paper fitted its model by minimizing the error between measured and predicted plasma glucose, and describe earlier models used to estimate blood glucose. They do not establish that most existing models of postprandial EGP suppression fit plasma glucose rather than EGP. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Some mathematical models exist in the literature describing postprandial endogenous glucose production suppression as a function of plasma glucose, insulin, and glucagon.

    “Some mathematical models exist in the literature describing the postprandial EGP suppression as a function of plasma glucose, insulin [10, 11], and glucagon [12–15].”

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [15]Bequette BW, Lee H, Sun J, El Youssef J, Castle JR, Ward WK. A model of glucagon–glucose dynamics for closed-loop glycemic control. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2010;4(2):A4. [Google Scholar]

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Authors
Herrero, P., Georgiou, P., Oliver, N., Reddy, M., Johnston, D., & Toumazou, C.
Affiliations
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (GB)
Corresponding author
Herrero, Pau
Venue
Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology
Published
2013-07
Volume
7
Issue
4
Pages
941-951
ISSN
1932-2968 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1830314513
Cited by
55
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1
FWCI
5.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (100921)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Pancreatic function and diabetes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Treatment and Management
Keywords
type 1 diabetes, artificial pancreas, endogenous glucose production, subcutaneous insulin absorption, closed-loop glucose control, glycemic control, model parameter identification
MeSH terms
Algorithms, Blood Glucose, Computer Simulation, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Glucagon, Humans, Insulin, Insulin Infusion Systems, Models, Biological, Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring, Computational Biology

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