Abstract 1222 Poster Session II, Sunday, 5/2 (poster 54)

Intestinal Trefoil Factor (ITF or TFF3), a small peptide secreted at the mucosal surface by goblet cells throughout the mature intestine, has been shown to play an important role in the maintenance and repair of the intestinal mucosal barrier. We have previously demonstrated that ITF expression is developmentally regulated and its expression is deficient in premature rats (Lin J, et al. Pediatric Res 1998;43:50A). The deficiency in ITF expression may play a role in the susceptibility of premature infants to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Since glucocorticoids are known to promote intestinal maturation and prenatal steroid treatment has been shown to be associated with a decreased incidence of NEC, we tested the hypothesis that ITF expression in intestinal epithelial cells can be upregulated by glucocorticoids.

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