Pharmacodynamics is the study of a medication’s mechanism of action.

Our research at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology aims to improve our understanding of the pharmacodynamics of various therapeutics employed in endocrinology, including in the treatment of diabetes, obesity, and growth hormone deficiency. We have a long-standing and fruitful collaboration with the Department of Endocrinology, Aarhus University Hospital.

Currently, we are investigating the effect of the interaction between growth hormone agonists and insulin, as well as isolated effects of growth hormone agonists, on glucose metabolism. We are further investigating the effects of antidiabetic medications on the gastrointestinal tract, by comparing samples from portal venous blood with arterial blood, during treatment, in collaboration with the Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus University Hospital, and are examining the glucose-lowering and the pleiotropic effects of metformin in non-diabetic patients with heart failure, in collaboration with the Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital. 

Metformin targets brown adipose tissue in vivo and reduces oxygen consumption in vitro. Breining P, Jensen JB, Sundelin EI, Gormsen LC, Jakobsen S, Busk M, Rolighed L, Bross P, Fernandez-Guerra P, Markussen LK, Rasmussen NE, Hansen JB, Pedersen SB, Richelsen B, Jessen N. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2018 Sep;20(9):2264-2273.

Metformin reduces liver glucose production by inhibition of fructose-1-6-bisphosphatase. Hunter RW, Hughey CC, Lantier L, Sundelin EI, Peggie M, Zeqiraj E, Sicheri F, Jessen N, Wasserman DH, Sakamoto K. Nat Med. 2018 Sep;24(9):1395-1406.

A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial of nicotinamide riboside in obese men: safety, insulin-sensitivity, and lipid-mobilizing effects. Dollerup OL, Christensen B, Svart M, Schmidt MS, Sulek K, Ringgaard S, Stødkilde-Jørgensen H, Møller N, Brenner C, Treebak JT, Jessen N. Am J Clin Nutr. 2018 Aug 1;108(2):343-353.

Acute Hypoglycemia in Healthy Humans Impairs Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Uptake and Glycogen Synthase in Skeletal Muscle: A Randomized Clinical Study. Voss TS, Vendelbo MH, Kampmann U, Hingst JR, Wojtaszewski JFP, Svart MV, Møller N, Jessen N. Diabetes. 2017 Sep; 66(9):2483-2494. 

Altered gene expression and repressed markers of autophagy in skeletal muscle of insulin resistant patients with type 2 diabetes. Møller AB, Kampmann U, Hedegaard J, Thorsen K, Nordentoft I, Vendelbo MH, Møller N, Jessen N. Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 2;7:43775.