Dasgupta S, Arya S, Choudhary S, Jain SK. Amniotic fluid: Source of trophic factors for the developing intestine. World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol 2016; 7(1): 38-47 [PMID: 26909227 DOI: 10.4291/wjgp.v7.i1.38]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Sunil K Jain, MD, Department of Neonatology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555, United States. skjain@utmb.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Feb 15, 2016; 7(1): 38-47 Published online Feb 15, 2016. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v7.i1.38
Amniotic fluid: Source of trophic factors for the developing intestine
Soham Dasgupta, Shreyas Arya, Sanjeev Choudhary, Sunil K Jain
Soham Dasgupta, Shreyas Arya, Sunil K Jain, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States
Sanjeev Choudhary, Department of Endocrinology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States
Sanjeev Choudhary, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States
Sunil K Jain, Department of Neonatology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States
Author contributions: Dasgupta S, Arya S, Choudhary S and Jain SK contributed equally to this work; Dasgupta S and Arya S were involved in the drafting of the manuscript, creation of figures, analyzing the manuscript and results and reviewing it as well; Choudhary S and Jain SK were involved in drafting the manuscript, reviewing and revising the manuscript and figures and also analyzing the results.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All of the authors do not have any conflict of interest to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Sunil K Jain, MD, Department of Neonatology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555, United States. skjain@utmb.edu
Telephone: +1-713-3059772 Fax: +1-409-7720747
Received: August 27, 2015 Peer-review started: August 30, 2015 First decision: September 28, 2015 Revised: December 22, 2015 Accepted: January 5, 2016 Article in press: January 7, 2016 Published online: February 15, 2016
Abstract
The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is a complex system, which changes in response to requirements of the body. GIT represents a barrier to the external environment. To achieve this, epithelial cells must renew rapidly. This renewal of epithelial cells starts in the fetal life under the influence of many GIT peptides by swallowing amniotic fluid (AF). Development and maturation of GIT is a very complex cascade that begins long before birth and continues during infancy and childhood by breast-feeding. Many factors like genetic preprogramming, local and systemic endocrine secretions and many trophic factors (TF) from swallowed AF contribute and modulate the development and growth of the GIT. GIT morphogenesis, differentiation and functional development depend on the activity of various TF in the AF. This manuscript will review the role of AF borne TF in the development of GIT.
Core tip: The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is a complex system with a combination of factors being responsible for its development. Trophic factors (TF) in amniotic fluid (AF) represent an important component that affects the development and maturation of the GIT during fetal life. We highlight the various phases of GIT development, the formation/circulation of AF, various TF in AF and the respective roles they play in fetal GIT development. We also emphasize that much remains to be known about the milieu of TF within AF. We hope this article provides an insight of what is known about such TF and what we hope to discover in the future.
