Hashimoto N, Ohyanagi H
Second Department of Surgery, Kinki University School of Medicine, 377-2, Ohno-Higashi, Osaka Sayama, Osaka 589-8511, Japan.
Hepatogastroenterology. 2001 Mar-Apr;48(38):413-5.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: We determined whether the trophic effects of IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor-1) on the small bowel mucosa are mediated by either nonluminal factors or endogenous luminal secretion. The gut hormone IGF-1 stimulates growth of small bowel mucosa. The mechanisms responsible for this trophic effect are not known.
Rats underwent construction of a Thiry-Vella fistula of ileum. On postoperative day 10, the two groups were subdivided to receive either saline (control) or IGF-1. After 7 days, rats were killed and the Thiry-Vella fistula was removed. The mucosa was scraped and weighed, and protein content and alkaline phosphatase activity was determined.
IGF-1 significantly increased mucosal weight and alkaline phosphatase activity and protein content of ileal Thiry-Vella fistula compared with the control rats.
IGF-1 mediated stimulation of small bowel mucosal growth is mediated by factors that are independent of luminal contents and pancreaticobiliary secretion. IGF-1 may prove to be an important enterotrophic factor for gut mucosal proliferation.