A complex diet was found to be superior to an elemental diet in terms of the morphological and functional features of adaptation following massive small bowel resection.

In an animal model of SBS, CPC supplementation of polymeric infant formula resulted in normal weight gain and features of enhanced morphologic adaptation.

No abstract

This is the first study to our knowledge to examine the effect of GLP-2 administration in a juvenile short bowel syndrome model. Contrary to adult rodent studies, administration of GLP-2 resulted in adverse outcomes including reduced ability to gain weight; decreased serum albumin, tissue maltase, and sucrase; and villous atrophy. We anticipate this information will have important implications for future paediatric clinical trials.

Adaptation of the residual small bowel following resection is dependent on luminal and humoral factors. We aimed to establish if circulating levels of glucagon-like peptide (GLP-2) change under different dietary regimens following resection and to determine if there is a relationship between plasma GLP-2 levels and markers of intestinal adaptation. Four-week-old piglets underwent a 75% proximal small bowel resection (n = 31) or transection (n = 14). Postoperatively they received either pig chow (n = 14), nonpolymeric (elemental) infant formula (n = 7), or polymeric infant formula alone (n = 8) or supplemented either with fiber (n = 6) or with bovine colostrum protein concentrate (CPC; n = 10) for 8 weeks until sacrifice. Plasma GLP-2 levels were measured at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 8 postoperatively. In addition, end-stage parameters were studied at week 8 including weight gain, ileal villus height, crypt depth, and disaccharidase levels. Plasma GLP-2 levels were higher in resected animals compared to transected animals fed the same diet. Plasma GLP-2 levels were significantly increased in the colostrum protein isolate-supplemented animals following resection compared to all other diet groups. The increase in plasma GLP-2 (pM) was greatest in the first 2 weeks postresection (week 0, 15.5; week 2, 30.9), followed by a plateau at weeks 2 to 4 and a decrease in GLP-2 levels from week 4 to week 8. At week 8, no relationships were found between the plasma GLP-2 levels and the measurements of weight gain, villus height, lactase, sucrase, maltase, crypt depth, or villus/crypt ratio. Plasma GLP-2 levels increase in the first weeks following massive small intestinal resection. The increase in plasma GLP-2 levels was enhanced by supplementation of the diet with CPC. The changes in GLP-2 levels observed in this study may suggest that GLP-2 plays a role in the adaptive response in the intestine following resection in this preclinical model.