The Role of Sexual Hormones on the Enteroinsular Axis

Sex steroid estrogens, androgens, and progesterone, produced by the gonads, which have long been considered as endocrine glands, are implicated in sexual differentiation, puberty, and reproduction. However, the impact of sex hormones goes beyond these effects through their role on energy metabolism. Indeed, sex hormones are important physiological regulators of glucose homeostasis and, in particular, of the enteroinsular axis. In this review, we describe the roles of estrogens, androgens, and progesterone on glucose homeostasis through their effects on pancreatic α- and β-cells, as well as on enteroendocrine L-cells, and their implications in hormonal biosynthesis and secretion. The analysis of their mechanisms of action with the dissection of the receptors implicated in the several protective effects could provide some new aspects of the fine-tuning of hormonal secretion under the influence of the sex. This knowledge paves the way to the understanding of transgender physiology and new potential therapeutics in the field of type 2 diabetes.