In rats that had most of their small intestine removed, giving the peptide BPC‑157 (either in the drinking water or by injection) stopped the usual rapid weight loss and actually caused the animals to gain weight. Their gut tissue also healed better, with longer villi, deeper crypts, stronger muscle layers, and tougher connections where the intestine was sewn back together.

The gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157, which was shown to be safe as an antiulcer peptide in trials for inflammatory bowel disease (PL14736, Pliva), successfully healed intestinal anastomosis and fistula in rat. Therefore, we studied for 4 weeks rats with escalating short bowel syndrome and progressive weight loss after small bowel resection from fourth ileal artery cranially of ileocecal valve to 5 cm beneath pylorus. BPC 157 (10 microg/kg or 10 ng/kg) was given perorally, in drinking water (12 ml/rat/day) or intraperitoneally (once daily, first application 30 min following surgery, last 24 h before sacrifice). Postoperatively, features of increasingly exhausted presentation were: weight loss appearing immediately regardless of villus height, twofold increase in crypt depth and fourfold increase in muscle thickness within the first week, jejunal and ileal overdilation, and disturbed jejunum/ileum relation. In contrast, constant weight gain above preoperative values was observed immediately with BPC 157 therapy, both perorally and parenterally, and villus height, crypt depth, and muscle thickness [inner (circular) muscular layer] also increased, at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. Moreover, rats treated with pentadecapeptide BPC 157 showed not different jejunal and ileal diameters, constant jejunum-to-ileum ratio, and increased anastomosis breaking strength. In conclusion, pentadecapeptide BPC 157 could be helpful to cure short bowel syndrome.