Trophic action of local intraileal infusion of insulin-like growth factor I: polyamine dependence

Insulin-like growth factor 1-coated sutures improve anastomotic healing in an experimental model of colitis

BACKGROUND

: Exogenously applied insulin-like growth factor (rhIGF-1) may improve normal intestinal healing. This study examined the effect of rhIGF-1-coated sutures on anastomotic healing in experimental colitis.

METHODS

: Acute colitis was induced in rats by dextran sodium sulphate (DSS). Inflammation was assessed by clinical Disease Activity Index (DAI), myeloperoxidase (MPO) measurement and histological examination. A distal colonic anastomosis was performed using sutures coated with rhIGF-1 dissolved in poly(D,L-lactide) (PDLLA) under general anaesthetic. Anastomotic healing was evaluated histologically, and by hydroxyproline measurement and bursting parameters after 1, 3 and 7 days, and compared with healthy, DSS and DSS + PDLLA controls.

RESULTS

: DAI, MPO and histological inflammation scores were significantly increased in all animals treated with DSS. Bursting occurred less often within the anastomotic line on day 3 in the IGF group than in DSS controls (three versus eight of ten). On day 7, the IGF group had significantly increased histological healing scores (mean(s.e.m.) 12.5(0.7) versus 9.2(0.8) (P < 0.050)) and hydroxyproline content (4.6(0.3) versus 3.6(0.1) mg/g tissue; P < 0.050) compared with DSS controls.

CONCLUSION

: IGF-1-coated sutures improve important aspects of anastomotic healing in rats with experimental colitis.

Development of the infant intestine: implications for nutrition support

The incidence of preterm births has continued to increase over the past 25 years, and therefore the optimal feeding of these infants is an important clinical concern. This review focuses on intestinal development and physiology, with a particular emphasis on developmentally immature functions of the preterm intestine and the resulting implications for nutrition therapies used to feed the preterm infant.

Increased expression of ornithine decarboxylase in distal tubules of early diabetic rat kidneys: are polyamines paracrine hypertrophic factors?

Polyamines are small biogenic molecules that are essential for cell cycle entry and progression and proliferation. They can also contribute to hypertrophy. The activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis, increases in the early diabetic kidney to enable renal hypertrophy. Inhibition of ODC in early diabetes attenuates diabetic renal hypertrophy and glomerular hyperfiltration. The current studies examine the temporal profile of renal ODC protein expression and localization, intrarenal polyamine levels, and sites of proliferation in kidneys of rats during the first 7 days of streptozotocin diabetes. ODC mRNA and protein content were increased in diabetic kidneys. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed increased intrarenal polyamine concentrations peaking after 24 h of diabetes. A subsequent increase in the number of proliferating proximal tubular cells was detected by in vivo 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation on day 3. Surprisingly, immunohistochemical studies revealed that increased ODC protein was apparent only in distal nephrons, whereas the main site of diabetic kidney hypertrophy is the proximal tubule. These findings raise the possibility that polyamines produced in the distal nephron may mediate the early diabetic kidney growth of the proximal tubules via a paracrine mechanism.

Insulin and IGF-I inhibit calcium-dependent chloride secretion by T84 human colonic epithelial cells

D-Myo-inositol (3,4,5,6) tetrakisphosphate [Ins(3,4,5,6)P(4)] or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) activity acts to inhibit calcium-dependent chloride secretion in T84 colonic epithelial cells. To further distinguish between the contributions of these two signaling pathways to the inhibition of secretion, we studied effects of insulin, because the insulin receptor links to PI 3-kinase but not to pathways postulated to generate Ins(3,4,5,6)P(4). Chloride secretion across T84 cell monolayers was studied in Ussing chambers. Activation of PI 3-kinase was assessed by Western blotting. Basolateral, but not apical, addition of insulin inhibited carbachol- and thapsigargin-induced chloride secretion in a time- and concentration-dependent fashion. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) had similar effects. Insulin had no effect on Ins(3,4,5,6)P(4) levels, and the inhibitory effects of insulin and IGF-I on chloride secretion were fully reversed by the PI 3-kinase inhibitors wortmannin and LY-294002. Western blot analysis showed that both insulin and IGF-I recruited the 85-kDa regulatory and 110-kDa catalytic subunits of PI 3-kinase to anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates. In conclusion, insulin and IGF-I act to inhibit calcium-dependent chloride secretion through a PI 3-kinase-dependent pathway. Because insulin is released in a pulsatile fashion postprandially and IGF-I levels are elevated in pathological settings, our findings may have physiological and/or pathophysiological significance.