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The effect of hepatocyte growth factor on intestinal adaption in an experimental model of short bowel syndrome

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Abstract

Purpose

Nowadays, the standard therapy for patients with short bowel syndrome is parenteral nutrition (PN). Various growth factors have been tested to achieve weaning from prolonged PN administration. We evaluated the effect of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on structural intestinal adaptation and cell proliferation in a rat model of SBS.

Methods

Thirty Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into three groups; group A rats (sham) underwent bowel transection, group B rats underwent a 75% bowel resection, and group C rats underwent the same procedure but were treated postoperatively with HGF. Histopathologic parameters of intestinal adaptation were determined, while microarray and rt-PCR analyses of ileal RNA were also performed.

Results

Treatment with HGF resulted in significant increase in body weight, while the jejunal and ileal villus height and crypt depth were increased in HGF rats (36%, p < 0.05 and 27%, p < 0.05 respectively). Enterocyte proliferation was also significantly increased in HGF rats (21% p < 0.05). Microarray and quantitative rt-PCR analyses showed that the genes hgfac, rac 1, cdc42, and akt 1 were more than twofold up-regulated after HGF treatment.

Conclusion

HGF emerges as a growth factor that enhances intestinal adaptation. The future use of HGF may potentially reduce the requirement for PN in SBS patients.

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Data availability

All study results can be found in our institutional Databank and are also available at Figshare Data Repository.

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Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 3rd Department of Surgery, Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece

    George Bagias, Evangelos P. Misiakos, Anestis Charalampopoulos, Nick Zavras & Emmanouil Pikoulis

  2. Institute of Pathology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Stratigoula Sakellariou

  3. 1st Department of Surgery, Laikon General Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Schizas

  4. Department of Pediatric Surgery B, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Haifa, Israel

    Igor Sukhotnik

  5. 4th Department of Internal Medicine, Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Evangelos Giamarelos

Authors
  1. George Bagias
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  2. Evangelos P. Misiakos
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  3. Anestis Charalampopoulos
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  4. Nick Zavras
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  5. Stratigoula Sakellariou
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  9. Emmanouil Pikoulis
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Animal care and operative procedures were performed by George Bagias, Evangelos Misiakos and Evangelos Giamarelos—Bourboulis. Tissue preparation and histological analysis were performed by Stratigoula Sakellariou. Microarray analysis was performed by Igor Sukhotnik and rt-PCR analysis was performed by George Bagias. Data collection and analysis were performed by George Bagias, Anestis Charalampopoulos, and Nick Zavras. The first draft of the manuscript was written by George Bagias and Evangelos Misiakos, Dimitrios Schizas, and Emmanouil Pikoulis commented on previous versions of the manuscript and conducted the final version. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to George Bagias.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Ethical approval

The study has been approved by the Veterinary Department of the Region of Attica under the code 441/22–01-2016 and the local ethics committee under the code 1281/1–2-16. Animal care complied with the guide for the care and use of laboratory animals.

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Bagias, G., Misiakos, E.P., Charalampopoulos, A. et al. The effect of hepatocyte growth factor on intestinal adaption in an experimental model of short bowel syndrome. Pediatr Surg Int 39, 80 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-022-05341-6

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