Ménétrier's disease in a patient with Helicobacter pylori infection is linked to elevated glucagon-like peptide-2 activity.

This report focuses on a 59-year-old male Japanese patient with Ménétrier's disease who suffered from severe hypoproteinemia and tested positive for Helicobacter pylori when initially admitted to hospital. Blood levels of intact glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) were determined by specific bioassay, using serum-induced cAMP production in COS-7 cells expressing recombinant human GLP-2 receptors as a functional readout. Eradication of H. pylori led to remission of Ménétrier's disease as well as a partial yet significant decrease in GLP-2 levels, and also improved hypoproteinemia. These observations suggest a possible link between excess systemic endogenous production of GLP-2, a gut hormone that induces mucosal growth, and the hypertrophic gastropathy in a Ménétrier's disease patient with H. pylori infection.