A 3-piece peptide calmed colitis in mice

Researchers at Emory University tested KPV, a three-amino-acid fragment of that hormone, in mice with chemically induced colitis, giving it in drinking water to see whether such a small piece could still calm inflamed gut tissue.

In the peer-reviewed study, mice given KPV in their drinking water developed less colitis in two different chemical models, with lower levels of inflammatory signaling molecules in the gut. In human gut and immune cells, tiny nanomolar amounts damped the main inflammation switch, NF-kappaB.

KPV got into cells by hitching a ride on PepT1, a transporter gut cells already use to absorb small protein fragments from food. The result was in mice with a chemically triggered colitis, not a human trial, and later work has tested nanoparticle delivery to get KPV to the gut more precisely.

A fragment found its own back door.