Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #310379
Title: Comparative physiology of glucagon-like peptide-2 – Implications and applications for production and health of ruminants

Author
item Connor, Erin
item Clover, Christina
item Walker, Michael
item Elsasser, Theodore
item Kahl, Stanislaw

Submitted to: Journal of Animal Science
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/27/2014
Publication Date: 2/23/2015
Citation: Connor, E.E., Clover, C.M., Walker, M.P., Elsasser, T.H., Kahl, S. 2015. Comparative physiology of glucagon-like peptide-2 – Implications and applications for production and health of ruminants. Journal of Animal Science. 93:492-501.

Interpretive Summary: Glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) is a hormone secreted by specialized intestinal cells in response to nutrients entering the gastrointestinal tract. It has many effects on the gut including increased nutrient absorption, crypt cell proliferation, and mesenteric blood flow, and decreased gut permeability and motility, epithelial cell apoptosis, and inflammation. Because of these biological effects, GLP-2 is a useful therapy to improve nutrient absorption and gut health of humans with intestinal diseases and conditions that cause nutrient malabsorption, such as short-bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Recent research indicates that GLP-2 has similar functions and effects in the ruminant digestive system. Applications and opportunities for GLP-2 therapy to improve calf health and production efficiency of ruminants are discussed.

Technical Abstract: Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) is a 33-amino acid peptide derived from proteolytic cleavage of proglucagon by prohormone convertase 1/3 in enteroendocrine L-cells. Studies conducted in humans, rodent models, and in vitro indicate that GLP-2 is secreted in response to the presence of molecules in the intestinal lumen including fatty acids, carbohydrates, amino acids, and bile acids, which are detected by luminal chemosensors. The physiological actions of GLP-2 are mediated by its G-protein coupled receptor expressed primarily in the intestinal tract on enteric neurons, enteroendocrine cells, and myofibroblasts. The biological activity of GLP-2 is further regulated by dipeptidyl peptidase IV, which rapidly cleaves the N-terminus of GLP-2 that is responsible for GLP-2 receptor activation. Within the gut, GLP-2 increases nutrient absorption, crypt cell proliferation, and mesenteric blood flow, and decreases gut permeability and motility, epithelial cell apoptosis, and inflammation. Outside the gut, GLP-2 reduces bone resorption, can suppress appetite, and is cytoprotective in the lung. Thus, GLP-2 has been studied intensively as a therapeutic to improve intestinal function of humans during parenteral nutrition and following small bowel resection, and more recently, as a treatment for osteoporosis, obesity-related disorders, and to reduce cellular damage associated with inflammation of the gut and lungs. Recent studies demonstrate that GLP-2 has many similar biological actions and properties in ruminants as in non-ruminants, including the potential to reduce intestinal nitro-oxidative stress in calves caused by parasitic diseases like coccidiosis. Due to its beneficial impacts on nutrient absorption, gut healing, and normal gut development, GLP-2 therapy offers significant opportunities to improve calf health and production efficiency. However, GLP-2 therapies require an extended time course to achieve desired physiological responses, as well as daily administration due to the hormone’s short half-life. Thus practical means of administration and alternative strategies to enhance basal GLP-2 secretion (e.g., through specific feed additives), which are more likely to achieve consumer acceptance, are needed. Opportunities to address these challenges are discussed.