Biological Pathway
Incretin Signaling
Last updated
The gut-to-pancreas signalling system that explains why glucose swallowed produces a larger insulin response than the same amount of glucose given by vein. Cells in the intestine release GLP-1 and GIP when food arrives, and those hormones amplify insulin release, damp glucagon, slow stomach emptying, and act on appetite centres in the brain. Both are broken down within minutes by the enzyme DPP-4, which is why the engineered versions are built to resist it.
Why it matters here
Almost every compound sold as a GLP-1 acts somewhere on this pathway, and the real differences between them, one receptor or two, how long they last, how they are cleared, sit here rather than in the trade name.
What it is not
Incretin signalling is not a synonym for GLP-1: GIP is an incretin too and a dual agonist engages both, so a record tagged here is not necessarily a GLP-1 record. The incretin effect is also a measurable physiological quantity, not a drug class.
Also called
- incretin
- incretin axis
- incretin pathway
Incretin is a contraction coined from intestine, secretion and insulin, long before either hormone was identified. It names a suspected effect, not a molecule.