Cover Story Current Issue

Maternal nutrition exerts profound and lasting effects on infant development, with implications extending beyond somatic growth to long-term brain function and metabolic health. For example, newborns from mothers with obesity or diabetes exhibit increased susceptibility to metabolic disorders, including insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), often emerging in childhood or adolescence. While genetic inheritance contributes to this intergenerational risk, early-life nutritional exposures are increasingly recognized as primary drivers of persistent metabolic programming. Among key classes of nutrients, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)—leucine, isoleucine, and valine—have emerged as potent modulators of metabolic health in human adults. Elevated circulating BCAAs are among the most accurate predictors of future insulin resistance (IR) and T2D, with a two-fold increase in serum levels conferring a 2.5-fold risk of diabetes onset within 6–10 years. This elevation can directly cause organ toxicity, exacerbating metabolic deficits in a feed-forward loop. However, the extent to which maternal BCAA overnutrition during gestation and lactation impacts offspring metabolic programming and predisposes to dysfunction remains unclear.

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Current Issue

Glucagon-like peptide-2 pharmacotherapy activates hepatic Farnesoid X receptor-signaling to attenuate resection-associated bile acid loss in mice

Johannes Reiner, Nooshin Mohebali, Jens Kurth, Maria Witte, ... Georg Lamprecht

Glucagon-like peptide-2 pharmacotherapy activates hepatic Farnesoid X receptor-signaling to attenuate resection-associated bile acid loss in mice

Objective

Villus growth in the small bowel by Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) pharmacotherapy improves intestinal absorption capacity and is now used clinically for the treatment of short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure occurring after extensive intestinal resection. Another recently acknowledged effect of GLP-2 treatment is the inhibition of gallbladder motility and increased gallbladder refilling. However, the impact of these two GLP-2-characteristic effects on bile acid metabolism in health and after intestinal resection is not understood.

Methods

Mice were injected with the GLP-2-analogue teduglutide or vehicle. We combined the selenium-75-homocholic acid taurine (SeHCAT) assay with novel spatial imaging in healthy mice and after ileocecal resection (ICR mice) and associated the results with clinical stage targeted bile acid metabolomics as well as gene expression analyses.

Results

ICR mice had virtual complete intestinal loss of secondary bile acids, and an increased ratio of 12α-hydroxylated vs. non-12α-hydroxylated bile acids, which was attenuated by teduglutide. Teduglutide promoted SeHCAT retention in healthy and in ICR mice. Acute concentration of the SeHCAT-signal into the hepatobiliary system was observed. Teduglutide induced significant repression of hepatic cyp8b1 expression, likely by induction of MAF BZIP Transcription Factor G.

Conclusions

The data suggest that GLP-2-pharmacotherapy in mice significantly slows bile acid circulation primarily via hepatic Farnesoid X receptor-signaling.

Articles in Press

Glucagon-like peptide-2 pharmacotherapy activates hepatic Farnesoid X receptor-signaling to attenuate resection-associated bile acid loss in mice

Johannes Reiner, Nooshin Mohebali, Jens Kurth, Maria Witte, ... Georg Lamprecht

Glucagon-like peptide-2 pharmacotherapy activates hepatic Farnesoid X receptor-signaling to attenuate resection-associated bile acid loss in mice

Objective

Villus growth in the small bowel by Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) pharmacotherapy improves intestinal absorption capacity and is now used clinically for the treatment of short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure occurring after extensive intestinal resection. Another recently acknowledged effect of GLP-2 treatment is the inhibition of gallbladder motility and increased gallbladder refilling. However, the impact of these two GLP-2-characteristic effects on bile acid metabolism in health and after intestinal resection is not understood.

Methods

Mice were injected with the GLP-2-analogue teduglutide or vehicle. We combined the selenium-75-homocholic acid taurine (SeHCAT) assay with novel spatial imaging in healthy mice and after ileocecal resection (ICR mice) and associated the results with clinical stage targeted bile acid metabolomics as well as gene expression analyses.

Results

ICR mice had virtual complete intestinal loss of secondary bile acids, and an increased ratio of 12α-hydroxylated vs. non-12α-hydroxylated bile acids, which was attenuated by teduglutide. Teduglutide promoted SeHCAT retention in healthy and in ICR mice. Acute concentration of the SeHCAT-signal into the hepatobiliary system was observed. Teduglutide induced significant repression of hepatic cyp8b1 expression, likely by induction of MAF BZIP Transcription Factor G.

Conclusions

The data suggest that GLP-2-pharmacotherapy in mice significantly slows bile acid circulation primarily via hepatic Farnesoid X receptor-signaling.

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13th
Helmholtz Diabetes Conference 
Munich, 21-23. Sep 2026                                                                                                                             

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