Research

Hormonal

GLP-2 receptor activation improves intestinal barrier function and reduces systemic low-grade inflammation in obesity, but does not directly reduce appetite or body weight in humans.

GLP-2 receptor agonists (like teduglutide) are not currently recommended for weight loss in humans because they do not reduce appetite or food intake. However, they may help reduce systemic inflammation by improving gut barrier function, which is a key driver of obesity-related complications. This strategy is best used in combination with other weight-loss interventions (like GLP-1 agonists) rather than as a standalone treatment.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
However, GLP-2 does not seem to have appetite or food intake-reducing effects in humans, but its gut barrier-promoting effect may be of interest in the context of obesity... GLP-2R activation evidently increases mesenteric perfusion and, importantly, promote proliferation of the intestinal epithelium, which in turn ameliorates low-grade systemic inflammation by improving intestinal barrier function and, thus, reducing translocation of proinflammatory matter from the gut lumen to the bloodstream
Thorir Gauti Pálsson et al. · Peptides · 2024

Why this rating

Strong mechanistic evidence from rodent models and human SBS trials; human obesity-specific weight loss data is lacking.

Source

Targeting the GLP-2 receptor in the management of obesity

Thorir Gauti Pálsson et al. · Peptides · 2024

DOI 10.1016/j.peptides.2024.171210

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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