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Updated: Dec 28, 2025

Tissue Engineering of the Intestine in a Murine Model
Published on: December 1, 2012
Treating short bowel syndrome with pharmacotherapy
Mariana Hollanda Martins Da Rocha1,2, André Dong Won Lee1,3, Marcia Lucia De Mario Marin1,4
1Clinical nutrition multidisciplinary team (MDT), Hospital das Clinicas , Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is now a manageable condition thanks to new treatments. Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) analogs show promise for improving absorption and could become a future standard of care.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Pharmacology
- Internal Medicine
Background:
- Short bowel syndrome (SBS) was historically a fatal condition.
- Advances in home parenteral nutrition have transformed SBS into a chronic illness.
- New pharmacological treatments target the underlying pathophysiology of SBS.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current and emerging treatments for short bowel syndrome.
- To evaluate the efficacy of antidiarrheal drugs and GLP-2 analogs.
- To discuss surgical options for SBS.
Main Methods:
- Review of home parenteral nutrition's impact on SBS mortality.
- Assessment of off-label antidiarrheal drug use.
- Evaluation of glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) analogs for malabsorption.
- Discussion of surgical interventions like intestinal lengthening and transplantation.
Main Results:
- Home parenteral nutrition has significantly reduced SBS mortality since the 1970s.
- Antidiarrheal drugs are standard care but lack strong efficacy evidence.
- GLP-2 analogs demonstrate significant promise for alleviating malabsorption in adults with massive intestinal losses.
Conclusions:
- GLP-2 analogs represent a novel class of disease-modifying, absorption-restoring agents for SBS.
- These agents have the potential to become a therapeutic benchmark for severe intestinal loss.
- Future applications may extend to all contexts of significant intestinal failure.
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