<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> The following article appeared in the Monday, June 23rd issue of the Toronto Star: Hormone Holds Hope for Repairing Intestine by Leslie Papp, Medical Reporter Toronto researchers have taken a major step in turning a hormone that promotes intestinal growth into a drug to help people with bowel disease or cancer. They've developed an artificial variant of the naturally occurring hormone that's three to five times more powerful in stinulating growth of the small intestin'es lining. And human trials are expected to start next year. "We still need to do some large animal toxicity testing, which government agencies require us to du, but almost certainly we'll be into human studies in 1998,"said Dr. Daniel Drucker of The Toronto Hospital. The drug won't be a cure for bowel diseases but it might be able to fix some of the severe intestinal damage such ailments cause, he said. "Right now ther's nothing out there that physicians can use to repair the bowl," said Drucker, director of the University of Toronto's endocrinology division. The hormone, called GLP-2, was discovered 15 years ago, but scientists didn't know its purpose until Toronto researchers unravelled its growth-promoting properties last year. It triggers a thickening of the nutrient-absorbing inner lining of the intestine, called the epithelium, Drucker said. This layer, characterized by many tiny folds and wrinkles, is vital to breaking down food and abosrbing nutrients into the bloodstream, he said, adding the length of an intestine isn't as crucial as the surface area of its lining. Local researchers recently added to their knowledge about GLP-2 with the discovery of a key enzyme that regulates and inactivates the hormone. Their new artificial "designer" version of GLP-2 circumvents the work of this enzyme, thus making it a superior promoter of intestinal growth. The findings are published in the journal Nature Biothecnology today. Allelix Biopharmaceuticals Inc. is working with U of T and Toronto Hospital toward commercial development of the hormone. ++++++++++++++++++++ [log in to unmask] Ontario, Canada