Parenterally fed neonatal piglets cannot synthesize sufficient arginine to maintain arginine status, presumably due to the intestinal atrophy that occurs with parenteral feeding. Parenteral feeding-induced atrophy can be reduced by the infusion of glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2). GLP-2 infusion was hypothesized to increase the rate of endogenous arginine synthesis from proline, the major arginine precursor, in parenterally fed piglets receiving an arginine-deficient diet. Male piglets, ) from proline (11.6 vs. 6.3) (P ¼ 0.03). Mucosal mass (R 2 ¼ 0.71; P ¼ 0.002) and villus height were correlated (R 2 ¼ 0.66; P ¼ 0.004) with arginine synthesis. This study was the first to quantitate arginine synthesis in parenterally fed neonates and showed that although GLP-2 infusion increased arginine synthesis in a manner directly related to mucosal mass, this increased arginine synthesis was insufficient to improve whole-body arginine status in piglets receiving a low arginine diet. J. Nutr. 137: 601-606, 2007.

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