Meristem: Beef Science

With continued research and development progress, a natural protein found at high levels in mother's milk may provide a critical treatment for sick children.

Researchers at the University of Calgary have demonstrated broad potential for epidermal growth factor (EGF) to protect against gastrointestinal ailments.

These include diarrheal disease, which kills five million children worldwide under the age of five every year, and Short Bowel Syndrome caused by necrotizing enterocolitis, a devastating and often fatal gastrointestinal disease that mostly affects premature infants. There is no pharmacological treatment for necrotizing enterocolitis.

"Necrotizing enterocolitis is a disease where the gut or part of it will die off," says Dr. Andre Buret of the University of Calgary. "Surgically you have to cut out a portion of the intestine and rejoin the remnants. In some cases a child can be left with 60 cm of small intestine instead of five metres. In that instance, the prognosis is very bad."

In 2004 the University of Calgary team led by Dr. Dave Sigalet demonstrated in a special trial with sick children that EGF could be used to help treat this often fatal disease.

"It was an incredible, emotional experience," says Buret. "There is nothing out there to help these children, and on that premise we got special ethical clearance and authorization for a trial to administer EGF to a group of infants suffering from this disease. We demonstrated that EGF can be used to enhance function and length of intestine for these children very quickly. In one case, one child was able to go back to oral intake of solid food instead of being fed intravenously."

Buret and colleagues have established strong prospects for EGF in these and other aspects of gastrointestinal health, both in humans and in animals. In the process, they have garnered more than 30 patents world wide. The findings include great promise to fight against gastrointestinal diseases of calves, adult cattle and other livestock, benefiting producers with healthier, more productive animals.

In recent years, Alberta's livestock industry, including AVAC Ltd, the Agriculture Funding Consortium and the Canada Alberta Beef Industry Development Fund (CABIDF), have provided vital funding support to make several of these advances possible.

But with the limitations of patent life an increasing concern, the research effort requires a new injection of funding to keep afloat and will soon require backing from a major global player in the pharmaceutical arena, says Buret.

"We're in great shape right now, but time is going by and we need to move now to generate maximum benefit for the user."

Buret's perspective on the opportunities and ongoing challenges for EGF is featured in a new "Perspectives on Beef Science" article, now available on the Meristem Land and Science Web site, www.meristem.com. Development of the EGF article was supported by CABIDF.

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'EGF' shows promise to replace livestock antibiotics, help sick children