Studies on possible physiological effects of milk-borne bombesin

Abstract

Mammalian milk has been shown to contain bombesin-like immunoreactivity. In order to assess these peptides' physiologic significance in the developing gastrointestinal tract, we initially characterized the in vitro degradation of radiolabeled bombesin by intestinal luminal flush. When these studies indicated survival of bombesin in the luminal flush, we performed in vivo studies to determine if enteral administration of bombesin affects the intestinal luminal content of trypsin and protein in 12-14 day old rats. Our results showed a significant elevation of total protein and luminal tryptic content in the bombesin treated group when compared to controls. These results indicate a possible physiologic role for bombesin-like peptides in the early development of the gastrointestinal tract.