Japanese research team succeeded in animal testing to give small intestine function to the large intestine
An animal experiment in which part of the large intestine functions as a small intestine was successful in Japan by culturing stem cells that are the source of small intestine cells and transplanting them into the large intestine.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 6th, a research team at Keio University developed a technology to collect stem cells from the small intestine of mice and cultivate them into small cell masses.
The research team transplanted the cell mass created by this technique into the large intestine of mice whose small intestine was excised, and then conducted an experiment to connect the large intestine to the duodenum.
As a result, it was confirmed that complex tissues such as the small intestine were formed from the cell mass transplanted into the large intestine and absorbed sugar and lipids.
Laboratory rat. [연합뉴스TV 제공]
People whose small intestine is congenital short or whose small intestine is cut due to severe enteritis, etc., suffers from’short bowel syndrome’ in which nutrients cannot be properly absorbed.
There is no fundamental treatment other than transplantation for patients suffering from this syndrome, but the small intestine is said to be difficult to transplant due to a strong rejection reaction.
For this reason, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the results of this experiment are raising expectations that it will lead to a new regenerative medicine that treats incurable diseases of the small intestine that are difficult to transplant.
Shiro Yui, an associate professor at the Tokyo Medical School of Medicine (Gastrointestinal Regeneration), said, “It is an interesting idea to allow one organ to have another organ function, and it is very useful.” Said.
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