A new study led by Ananda Basu, M.D., used novel non-radioactive, stable glucagon tracers for the first time to characterize glucagon metabolism in humans with and without Type 1 diabetes, providing tools for further exploration into pancreatic alpha cell function in both Type 1 and 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Glucagon is a pancreatic hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating glucose and whole-body energy metabolism. In individuals with diabetes, the pancreatic alpha cells that produce glucagon are dysregulated leading to inadequate response to the body’s blood glucose and resulting in high (hyperglycemia) or low (hypoglycemia) blood sugar. Ananda Basu, program director of the NIH-funded Diabetes Research Center, S. Richardson Hill, Jr. Endowed Professor in the UAB Department of Medicine Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, and senior scientist at the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center, is an expert in the development of innovative isotope modeling techniques coupled with organ balance methods to study whole body and regional metabolism and physiology in humans with and without diabetes. He and collaborators, including UCDC senior scientist Rita Basu, M.D., Endowed Professor of Diabetes Science in the UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, set out to assess splanchnic (abdominal) and leg glucagon metabolism in humans using stable glucagon isotopes, also known as tracers. “We wanted to evaluate if splanchnic and leg glucagon metabolism differed between nondiabetic participants and those with Type 1 diabetes at glucagon concentrations spanning the physiological range,” Ananda Basu said. Their findings, “Splanchnic and Leg Glucagon Metabolism in Healthy and Type 1 Diabetes: First in Human Study using [13C9, 15N1]-Glucagon,” were recently published in Diabetes, the peer-reviewed flagship journal of the American Diabetes Association. Researchers combined an isotope dilution technique using stable tracers [6,22 13C9, 15N1]-Glucagon and [6,14,19,22 13C9, 15N1]-Glucagon with splanchnic and leg catheterization in nondiabetic (ND) and T1D participants in the overnight fasted state. After the baseline period, exogenous glucagon was infused at rates designed to achieve plasma glucagon concentrations spanning the physiological ranges to determine the effects of rising glucagon concentrations on splanchnic and leg glucagon balance. Researchers found that whereas splanchnic glucagon extraction did not differ between ND and T1D participants, leg glucagon extraction fell in ND but did not change in T1D as glucagon concentrations increased. Net splanchnic glucagon production did not change with exogenous glucagon infusion. “We have characterized regional glucagon metabolism across the splanchnic and leg regions in humans with and without T1D using glucagon tracers for the first time,” Ananda Basu said. “Further studies are needed to determine glucagon metabolism during other physiologically relevant conditions, e.g., postprandial, during exercise, during hypoglycemia. An intriguing novel observation was that the leg, representing peripheral tissues, also extracted a significant amount of glucagon in both ND and T1D participants. The mechanisms by which this occurs need to be investigated in future studies.” Ananda Basu said their observations also have significant translational implications for two current advancements in diabetes treatment and management. “Our study has implications for dual hormone closed loop control in T1D where glucagon is infused for prevention of hypoglycemia and for investigating the effects of emerging GLP-1, GIP and Glucagon receptor agonists and glucagon clearance,” he said. This study was funded by NIH: R01-DK 085516. Read the full paper here.

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) senior Nic Amison recently spent two semesters serving as the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center’s (UCDC) first communications intern. 

UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) members and trainees will share their latest scientific findings at the world’s largest diabetes conference, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 85th Scientific Sessions, June 20-23, at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.

UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) Director Anath Shalev, M.D., was invited to write a mini-review for Endocrinology, the flagship journal of the Endocrine Society.

Originally from Elkmont, Alabama, Perez contributes to multiple projects in the Bhatnagar Lab, which researches insulin secretion from beta cells.

UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) senior scientists Ananda Basu, M.D., and Rita Basu, M.D., were each honored during the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine Spring 2025 Endowed Chairs and Professorships Reception, May 7.

UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) researchers joined experts from around the United States to present current topics related to diabetes at the 16th Annual Boshell Research Day on April 4.

UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) scientist Kirk Habegger, Ph.D., is featured in the Diabetes Spotlight in the May 2025 issue of Diabetes, the flagship research publication of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). 

Two UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) members are winners of the 2025 Dean's Excellence Awards for Faculty from the UAB Heersink School of Medicine.

The UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, alongside the Division of Endocrine Surgery, is pleased to host the 2025 UAB Endocrinology Update Conference on Saturday, August 23 beginning at 8 a.m. at the Hilton Birmingham at UAB. 

 As a lab manager, Khadija Seck oversees daily lab operations and helps coordinate experiments in the Habegger Lab.

Haifa Alsharif, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC), won first place for her poster presentation at the UAB Department of Medicine’s 2025 Trainee Research Symposium (TRS).

A new study by Rita Basu, M.D., and collaborators, finds that restoring hepatic glycogen improves nocturnal glucose regulation in humans with Type 2 diabetes.

UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) Director Anath Shalev, M.D., was invited to present at the International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD), held in Amsterdam, March 19-22.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HIIE) celebrated its annual Innovation Awards on October 11, 2024, recognizing outstanding innovators and entrepreneurial achievements. Anath Shalev, M.D., director of the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center and founder of TIXiMED, was awarded the 2024 Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award, the institute’s highest honor. Shalev's start-up, TIXiMED, recently advanced toward clinical trials after receiving FDA clearance for its novel Type 1 diabetes treatment, TIX100.

From January to May of 2023, Shelby Lyda, M.D., was extremely tired and had brain fog, but she chalked it up to the demands of a residency program.

Department of Medicine Facilities Coordinator Corey Cates, M.S., was six years old when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. For doctors to uncover Cates’ diagnosis, it took a two-and-a-half-hour drive as well as a one-week stay at the Children's Medical Center in Dallas, TX in 1996.

In March 2023, UAB celebrated the Medical Alumni Association’s 50th Annual Medical Alumni Weekend, the 70th Anniversary of Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the 15th Anniversary of UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center. These milestones serve as an excellent opportunity to look at where we started and a reminder to look forward to all we wish to achieve.

The UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, alongside the Division of Endocrine Surgery, is pleased to offer the 2023 Endocrinology Update Conference on Saturday, August 19 beginning at 8 a.m. at the Hilton Birmingham at UAB.

Department of Pediatrics Professor and Ralph Froshin Endowed Chair in Pediatric Endocrinology Ambika Ashraf, M.D., co-edited a book “Pediatric Dyslipidemia” alongside colleague Bhuvana Sunil, M.D.