Mercodia Specific Glucagon

SBH Diagnostics is pleased to offer an innovative and highly-specific Glucagon test.

"There is currently little doubt that an excess of glucagon contributes substantially to the diabetic phenotype. It follows, then, that limiting its action with metformin would be expected to provide clear clinical benefit to people with diabetes, as would the development of new inhibitors of glucagon secretion, or action."

Alan D. Cherrington, Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Professor of Medicine, The Jacquelyn A. Turner and Dr. Dorothy J. Turner Chair in Diabetes Research, Vanderbilt University, USA (2013) Nature Medicine 19:272-273

What Can the Specific Glucagon ELISA Offer You?

Low sample volume

  Only 25 μL of sample is required, which facilitates glucagon measurements in small animal models.

Little or no cross-reactivity

  The Mercodia Glucagon ELISA shows very low or no cross-reactivity to the following peptides:
    oxyntomodulin, glicentin, mini-glucagon, GLP-1, GLP-2 and GRPP.

Measurement range: 1.5 – 120 pM

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the range of the Specific Glucagon ELISA lower than the tests currently used?

  The reason why the range is very high in many glucagon assays is that the tests cross-react with glicentin. This is not the case for the Mercodia Glucagon ELISA, and we can measure both fasting and non-fasting samples without dilution.

Can the assay be used for rat or mouse samples?

  Yes, the Mercodia Glucagon ELISA only requires 25 μL sample volume, making it suitable for rat and mouse samples, the glucagon sequence is highly conserved among mammals.

Know What You Measure – Why measuring glucagon has been a challenge in the past

Glucagon is a 29 amino acid peptide known to be the most important counter-regulatory hormone in response to hypoglycemia.

In pancreatic alpha cells, the processing of pro-glucagon results in expression of GRPP, glucagon, and major pro-glucagon fragment. In endocrine cells in the intestine, pro-glucagon is processed to GLP-1, and GLP-2, glicentin and oxyntomodulin (see figure 1). Since all these peptides are derived from pro-glucagon, constructing specific antibodies is a great challenge.

Frontiers in Glucagon Research - Podcast with Professor Jens Juul Holst

You can learn more about scientific advances that lead to a better understanding of diseases and therapies. Professor Jens Juul Holst, University of Copenhagen, DK, provides us with insight into incretin research, and his thoughts on the challenges of measuring glucagon and related peptides.   Browse www.mercodia.com/podcasts.html

In the following webinar (originally posted on Mercodia website), Professor Jens Juul Holst guides us through the difficulties of measuring glucagon, and the rising awareness of glucagon's role in metabolic disturbances during recent years. Click here to view: Glucagon WEBINAR with Professor Jens Juul Holst.