This is an agent-based model of blood glucose regulation by the liver and pancreas through the production of the hormones insulin and glucagon. This model represents cells as square patches which are either brown (liver cells) or yellow (pancreatic cells), aligning with typical textbook depictions of these organs. These two tissues work together to regulate the levels of the signal molecules glucose (white dots), insulin (blue dots), and glucagon (red dots) in the bloodstream. For simplicity, the model does not explicitly show blood vessels, instead representing molecule motion through diffusion. The model demonstrates how glucose homeostasis is maintained in the body through feedback loops even without direction from a central regulator. It also demonstrates how a variety of conditions like physical activity, eating, or metabolic disorders can affect this homeostasis. Under each of these conditions, the blood sugar level emerges from the interactions between cells and signal molecules. This model uses two broad classes of agents.
The first is cells, and the second is signal molecules. Liver cells (brown squares) and pancreatic cells (yellow squares) are arranged into a body. In response to low glucose levels, pancreatic cells produce glucagon (red dots). In response to high glucose levels, they produce insulin (blue dots). Liver cells detect the levels of insulin and glucagon and either sequester glucose (white dots) from the bloodstream or release stored glucose depending on the balance of the hormones. Liver cells also begin with a store of glycogen within themselves which can provision the body for several days. This system relies on feedback loops between the liver and the pancreas to regulate the level of glucose in the blood. This creates a dynamic equilibrium which has minor fluctuations but will generally maintain a constant amount of glucose in the bloodstream. The behavior of the cells is also dependent on their Glyco Care Wellness Guideinsulin sensitivity support to the different signal molecules.
When the cells are not very sensitive to a particular signal, they are not very good at detecting the presence of those signal molecules. This means it will typically take more of those signal molecules to produce a particular response from the cell. The signal molecules produced by the cells move through the world by a random walk that simulates their diffusion through the body in the bloodstream. Over time, the body’s metabolism will burn through the glucose in the blood and the glycogen stored in the liver cells. This glucose can be replenished using the EAT button, which simulates nutrients being absorbed by the digestive system after a meal. This means that glucose will be added in small amounts over time, like in the real world. Eating several meals all in a row will not add glucose any more quickly, but it will increase the amount of time over which glucose is added.
This mirrors how people take longer to digest after eating more food. The model has some unavoidable differences from the real world. For example, real bodies will also have some blood sugar fluctuations, but the fluctuation in this model is mainly because it is has a higher grain size than a real body. Single ticks in the model correspond to a fairly long time (about 400 seconds), meaning that adjustments in the model take much longer than they would in a real body. Also, because there are fewer molecules in the model than there are in a body, differences of only one or GlycoCares Blood Sugar Guidewhite mulberry leaf two molecules can have a much larger impact in the model than they would in a body. This model can be used to examine the effects of a variety of factors on glucose homeostasis. One of the most common factors that might affect this is activity level or exercise. You can simulate changes in this by adjusting the METABOLIC-RATE slider.
