Orally administered insulin-like growth factor i increases
intestinal mucosal growth in formula-fed neonatal pigs.
Burrin, Douglas G., Timothy J. Wester, Teresa A. Davis, Susan Amick,
and Julian P. Heath.
USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of
Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030
APStracts 2:0338R, 1995.
Our objective was to determine the potentially anabolic effects of
orally administered recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I
(rhIGF-I) on small-intestinal growth in formula-fed neonatal pigs.
Unsuckled neonatal pigs received formula or formula containing added
rhIGF-I (3.5?mg x kg-1 x d-1) from birth to 4?days of age. Pigs in
both groups were fed 30?ml/kg formula every 2?h on day?1 and then
every 4?h on days 2-4, and blood was sampled daily. Oral
administration of rhIGF-I to formula-fed neonatal pigs increased
small-intestinal weight, protein and DNA content, but not length.
Jejunal and ileal villus height, but not crypt depth or muscularis
thickness, also were increased by oral rhIGF--I administration.
Neither the circulating concentration of IGF-I nor the IGF-binding
proteins differed between control and oral rhIGF-treated pigs,
suggesting that the absorption of orally administered rhIGF-I from
the intestinal lumen into the peripheral circulation was limited. Our
results demonstrate that oral administration of rhIGF-I during the
first 4 days after birth significantly increased small-intestinal
mucosal growth in formula-fed neonatal pigs. These results suggest
that oral administration of rhIGF-I may be a viable therapeutic
approach to enhance intestinal growth in neonates.
Received 5 September 1995; accepted in final form 10 November
1995
APS Manuscript Number R551-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Regulatory Integrative
Comp. Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 8 December 95