It is common knowledge that insulin is primarily involved in blood glucose homeostasis by storing excess glucose into liver, muscles and fat cells.

 

My question is, does insulin have any other physiological role other than the above? Perhaps it serves some other purpose somewhere. Has there been any studies regarding the other roles of insulin? Please enlighten me.

Insulin signals the cells to produce their own cholesterol instead of using the blood delivery system.

 

It causes the kidneys to retain salt (and a corresponding amount of water).

 

Insulin causes artery walls to thicken, raising blood pressure and external temperature.

It also acts as a growth hormone, which is why mothers with gestational diabetes will have larger babies at delivery.

Thank you @Phi.

 

I didn't know about the relation between insulin and cholesterol. The info about the Arterial wall thickness also useful. But the link you have given is not working. I think the following url may be the one you intended.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3233305/

Thank you @Phi.

 

I didn't know about the relation between insulin and cholesterol. The info about the Arterial wall thickness also useful. But the link you have given is not working. I think the following url may be the one you intended.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3233305/

 

No, it's a PDF, so it should be safe to open if I attach it here.

760.full.pdf

Of course insulin also brings about homeostasis by down-regulating the pathways in the liver that produce glucose: gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis. Insulin stimulates the production of acetyl CoA from glucose. There is also interplay among leptin, NPY, and insulin, but I am not very familiar with it.