TROPHIC EFFECTS OF GLICENTIN ON RAT SMALL-INTESTINAL MUCOSA IN-VIVO AND IN-VITRO

To define the role of glicentin the active site of enteroglucagon, we evaluated the trophic effects of recombinant rat glicentin on rat smal l intestine and IEC-6 cells. In vivo, a significant increase was obser ved in jejunal wet weight, protein content, DNA content, and alkaline phosphatase activity after the subcutaneous administration of 100 mu g /kg per day of glicentin for 2 weeks. In the ileum. however, there wer e no significant differences between the control versus glicentin grou ps in any of these parameters. Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity 3.5 h after an intraperitoneal injection of glicentin was increased in the jejunal mucosa, but not in the ileal mucosa. In vitro, glicentin, at a dose of more than 100 ng/ml, significantly increased both tritiu m-thymidine incorporation and the number of IEC-G cells. These finding s indicate that glicentin exerts direct trophic effects on the rat sma ll-intestinal mucosa and on the rat small-intestinal cell line, IEC-6, and that this peptide appears to be an active site of enteroglucagon.