title: Functional ontogeny of the proglucagon-derived peptide axis in the premature human neonate.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The regulation of intestinal growth and development in human neonates is incompletely understood, which hinders the provision of nutrients enterally. The "hindgut" hormones glucagon-like peptides 1 and 2 have been shown to play an important role in the regulation of nutrient assimilation, intestinal growth, and function.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our goal was to investigate the production of glucagon-like peptides 1 and 2 in premature human infants and examine the effects of prematurity and feeding on hormone release.
  
  
  METHODS
  With informed consent, premature infants who were admitted to a tertiary neonatal intensive care nursery (gestational age: 28-32 weeks) were monitored with weekly determinations of postprandial glucagon-like peptide 1 and 2 levels. Comparison studies with groups of normal infants and adults were performed. Hormone levels were obtained by using specific radioimmunoassay for glucagon-like peptide 1 (1-36) and glucagon-like peptide 2 (1-33), modified for small sample volumes; accurate monitoring of enteral intake was performed at all of the sampling time points.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-five infants with a mean gestational age of 29.6 +/- 1.9 weeks were studied; fasting levels of both glucagon-like peptides 1 and 2 were elevated. There was no correlation between gestational age and glucagon-like peptide 2 output. However, both glucagon-like peptide 1 and 2 levels were correlated with the caloric value of feeds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The premature human neonate has significantly higher fasting levels of glucagon-like peptides 1 and 2 compared with adults; feeding increases these levels further. These findings suggest that the proglucagon-derived peptides may have a role in normal intestinal development and nutrient handling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Foothills Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Harish
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.forename: Jens J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Holst
authors.forename: Bolette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Sigalet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005865:Gestational Age; D052216:Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 / Q000097:blood; D053767:Glucagon-Like Peptide 2 / Q000097:blood; D004763:Glucagon-Like Peptides / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007225:Infant Food; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000097:blood*; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011336:Probability; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D053767:Glucagon-Like Peptide 2; D004763:Glucagon-Like Peptides; D052216:Glucagon-Like Peptide 1