BACKGROUND Octreotide, a somatostatin analog, may be beneficial in the treatment of head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGLs). METHODS We conducted a nonblinded, prospective intervention study. During 1 year, patients received a monthly intramuscular injection of 30 mg octreotide. Pretreatment and posttreatment tumor volumes were assessed by MRI, urinary catecholamine secretion was measured, and ...

The effect of the somatostatin analogue octreotide on the secretion of progesterone and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) from human granulosa-luteal cells was investigated. Octreotide (10(-11), 10(-10) and 10(-9) M) alone induced a significant decrease in progesterone secretion (maximum suppression 69 +/- 5% of control: P < 0.0001). In contrast, treatment with octreotide i...

Bleeding from oesophageal varices has a high death rate. Injection sclerotherapy is the most appropriate treatment but facilities for this are not always available. Balloon tamponade and vasoactive therapy may be used as stop gap measures. Somatostatin and octreotide are therapeutic candidates for the treatment of variceal bleeding and there are several trials that have compared somatostatin an...

Over the last 30 years nuclear medicine imaging of the adrenal gland and its lesions has been achieved by the exploitation of a number of physiological characteristics of this organ. By seeking and utilising features which are quantitatively or qualitatively different from those of the adjacent tissues, functional depiction of the adrenal gland and its diseases, which in most cases retain the b...

PEGylation is a well-established technique utilized to overcome the problems related to the therapeutic applications of peptides and proteins. Reasons for the PEGylation of these biological macromolecules include reducing immunogenicity, proteolytic degradation and rapid clearance from blood circulation. Octreotide is an octapeptide analogue of naturally-occurred somatostatin. This peptide has ...

PEGylation is a well-established technique utilized to overcome the problems related to the therapeutic applications of peptides and proteins. Reasons for the PEGylation of these biological macromolecules include reducing immunogenicity, proteolytic degradation and rapid clearance from blood circulation. Octreotide is an octapeptide analogue of naturally-occurred somatostatin. This peptide has ...

Subcutaneous injection of 50 μg octreotide before a meal can almost totally prevent the increase in exocrine pancreatic secretions caused by the meal. Octreotide inhibits plasma amino acid uptake by pancreatic acinar cells, and thus synthesis of pancreatic enzymes. This effect has clinical potential. Lucio Gullo, MD, Department of Medicine and Gastroenterology, University of Bologna, St. Orsola...

We appreciate the comments of Yang and colleagues on our recent work entitled ‘Prophylactic octreotide for pancreatoduodenectomy: more harm than good?’ We agree with several of their points, particularly that the current evidence in the translational literature directly linking octreotide to the formation of fistulas is far from definitive; however, defining the mechanism of fistula development...

Although both somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (SSTR2) and SSTR5 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) are consistently expressed in GH-secreting adenomas, SSTR2 has been believed to be the key modulator of somatostatin-mediated inhibition of GH release. The somatostatin agonists currently in clinical use, octreotide and lanreotide, are directed mainly to SSTR2 (IC(50) 12- to 18-fold higher than for...

We recently demonstrated the expression of somatostatin (SS) and SS receptor (SSR) subtype 1 (sst1), sst2A, and sst3 in normal human thymic tissue and of sst1 and sst2A on isolated thymic epithelial cells (TEC). We also found an inhibitory effect of SS and octreotide on TEC proliferation. In the present study, we further investigated the presence and function of SSR in freshly purified human th...