Diabetes and Endocrinology

Clinical Endocrinology: Metabolism and Regulation

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The chemical reactions of metabolism are organized into metabolic pathways, in which one chemical is transformed through a series of steps into another chemical, by a sequence of enzymes. There are multiple levels of metabolic regulation. In intrinsic regulation, the metabolic pathway self-regulates to respond to changes in the levels of substrates or products a decrease in the amount of product can increase the flux through the pathway to compensate. This type of regulation often involves allosteric regulation of the activities of multiple enzymes in the pathway. Enzymes are crucial to metabolism because they allow organisms to drive desirable reactions that require energy that will not occur by them, by coupling them to spontaneous reactions that release energy. Hormonal pathways maintain homeostasis, and adjustments in secretion usually result in changes that will help maintain the status quo. In addition, secretion and activity of particular hormones may be adjusted upward or downward in response to challenges such as chronic stress, disease, or change in nutritional values.