Summary

Abstract

The study of the literature and our own results have led to the concept of a complex control of carbohydrate metabolism by the central nervous system. This consists in the first place in the neurosecretion of releasing hormones for ACTH,i.e. cortisol and other glucocorticoids, for HGH and possibly also for somatostatin. In the second place, the influence appears to be neuronal via the diencephalic nuclei and structures of the sympathetic nervous system and its neurones which are frequently relayed in the brain stem and whose course is detectable even as far as the cervical cord. From there, through the peripheral portions of the sympathetic nervous system, the direct Stimulation of glycogenolysis in the liver cells results as well as the promotion of glucagon secretion, the inhibition of insulin secretion in the pancreas and the Stimulation of adrenaline and nor-adrenaline secretion in the adrenal medulla.