GLP-1 dominates peptide-drug headlines, but it has a lesser-known relative, GLP-2, with its own FDA-approved drug and a completely different job: helping the gut absorb nutrients, rather than regulating appetite or blood sugar. That drug is teduglutide, sold as Gattex.
What It Is
Teduglutide is a synthetic analog of glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), a naturally occurring intestinal hormone. It is manufactured by Takeda and given as a once-daily subcutaneous injection.
What Condition It Treats
Teduglutide is FDA-approved for short bowel syndrome (SBS), a condition in which a patient has had a significant portion of their small intestine surgically removed or is otherwise unable to absorb enough nutrients and fluids through normal digestion. Patients with SBS often depend on parenteral nutrition, meaning nutrients delivered directly into the bloodstream by IV, sometimes for many hours a day, several days a week. Teduglutide is approved to help reduce the volume and frequency of that intravenous nutritional support, not to replace it entirely in every patient. It is approved for both adults and children as young as one year old.
How It Works
GLP-2, unlike GLP-1, doesn't primarily act on appetite or insulin. Instead, it has an intestinotrophic effect, meaning it promotes growth and repair of the intestinal lining and improves the gut's capacity to absorb fluids and nutrients. In patients with SBS, whose remaining intestine has to do more absorptive work with less surface area, that effect can meaningfully reduce reliance on IV nutrition over time.
Safety Considerations
Because teduglutide promotes intestinal tissue growth, its FDA label carries safety warnings related to that same mechanism, including monitoring for polyps and gastrointestinal neoplasms, since a drug that accelerates tissue growth in the gut requires closer surveillance for abnormal growths. Patients are generally advised to have a colonoscopy before starting treatment and at regular intervals afterward. Other reported effects include abdominal pain, nausea, and reactions related to gallbladder and pancreatic function, given the drug's broader effects on gastrointestinal tissue. These are the kinds of risks that make ongoing physician supervision, not self-directed use, essential for any teduglutide patient, and they are exactly why it's a prescription-only, closely monitored therapy rather than an over-the-counter or self-administered research product.
How It Differs From GLP-1 Drugs and From Research Peptides
It's worth being precise about terminology here: teduglutide is not a weight-loss drug, is not related to semaglutide or tirzepatide's mechanism, and treats a specific structural digestive condition rather than obesity or diabetes. It also stands in contrast to unapproved "GLP-2 research peptides" sometimes marketed online; teduglutide itself is a specific, FDA-approved formulation with an established manufacturing and prescribing pathway, not a generic label for any GLP-2-like compound sold without that approval.
The Bottom Line
Teduglutide is a good example of how broad the peptide-drug category actually is. It shares a naming convention and a hormone family with the GLP-1 drugs most readers come to this site for, but it treats a structurally different problem, carries its own distinct safety profile, and has its own dedicated, well-studied evidence base in the specific population it's approved for.
Talk to a Doctor
Short bowel syndrome and dependence on parenteral nutrition are managed by gastroenterologists and specialized nutrition teams. Anyone living with SBS should discuss whether teduglutide is appropriate for their specific case, including the required monitoring, with their treating physician.