Abstract
Epidermal growth factor (EGF), present in the milk of a number of species, may be trophic for the gastrointestinal tract in the perinatal period. Previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated intact luminal survival of enterally-administered EGF in suckling rats with subsequent absorption from the gut. Since the capacity for survival and absorption may be influenced by digestive processes within the gastrointestinal lumen, we evaluated the development of EGF degradative activity by measuring the release of trichloroacetic acid soluble radioactivity from human 124I-EGF incubated in vitro with fluid flushed from the lumen of the stomach and small intestine of 12-day old suckling and 31-day old weanling rats. In the stomach at pH 3.2, minimal luminal degradation of EGF was demonstrable in both suckling and weanling rats. By contrast, fluid from all small intestinal segments at both ages showed EGF degradative capacity at neutral pH, although hydrolytic activity of the weanling was twice that of the suckling. We conclude that EGF may be degraded in the lumen of the small intestine of the rat and that luminal digestive capacity toward this growth factor increases after weaning.
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Britton, J., Koldovsk, O. EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR DEGRADATION BY GASTROINTESTINAL FLUID FROM SUCKLING AND WEANLING RATS. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 210 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00263
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00263