BACKGROUND The fluid filling renal cysts in human polycystic kidneys is secreted chiefly by the tubular epithelium lining the cysts via secondary chloride transport. Inhibiting this process by somatostatin therapy should induce shrinking of renal cysts. METHODS In this randomized, cross-over, placebo-controlled trial we compared the risk/benefit profile of 6-month treatment with long-acting s...

The effects of 1 and 4 micrograms/kg/h somatostatin on pentagastrin-stimulated gastric mucosal blood flow and acid secretion were investigated in 12 normal subjects and in 12 patients with cirrhosis of the liver. Each dose of somatostatin was given intravenously to six normal subjects and to six patients. Gastric mucosal blood flow was measured by the neutral red clearance of the stomach. Penta...

A somatostatin deficit occurs in the cerebral cortex of Alzheimer's disease patients without a major loss in somatostatin-containing neurons. This deficit could be related to a reduction in the rate of proteolytic processing of peptide precursors. Since the two proprotein convertases (PC)1 and PC2 are responsible for the processing of neuropeptide precursors directed to the regulated secretory ...

The inhibitory effects of somatostatin have been well documented for many physiological processes. The action of somatostatin is through G-protein-coupled receptor-mediated second-messenger signaling, which in turn affects other downstream targets including ion channels. In the retina, somatostatin is released from a specific class of amacrine cells. Here we report that there was a circadian ph...

In order to ascertain possible abnormalities in somatostatin and gastrin secretion in patients with duodenal ulcer, the author compared bombesin-stimulated somatostatin and gastrin secretion by antral mucosal explants in patients with duodenal ulcer, those with atrophic gastritis and normal controls. An organ culture technique was employed. This excluded neurogenic, hormonal and circulatory inf...

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is present in gastric mucosa and preferentially binds to two subtypes of natriuretic peptide receptors (NPR), NPR-A and NPR-C. The present study examines the role of endogenous ANP in regulating endocrine secretion in rat and human stomachs. NPR-A protein expression and transcripts were identified in rat antral and fundic mucosa by Western blot and RT-PCR. In su...

Introduction of somatostatin analogs has greatly contributed to improving the prognosis of acromegaly. Although the majority of patients are effectively treated by these agents, resistance occurs in a subset of patients. So far, resistance to somatostatin has never been associated with mutations of the somatostatin receptor subtypes (sst2 and sst5) that inhibit GH secretion. Molecular analysis ...

The distribution of somatostatin-containing neurons in mice of both sexes was immunohistochemically examined and compared with that in rats. In radioimmunoassay the relative somatostatin content in the mouse brain was 2-3 times higher than that in the rat. The overall immunohistochemical staining for somatostatin was much stronger and more prominent in the mouse than in the rat. Although the di...

To determine the hormonal status of somatostatin in man, plasma levels of approximately 1600-dalton somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI) were measured before and after a mixed meal. Plasma was subjected to gel filtration and the fractions coeluting with somatostatin were concentrated ninefold before radioimmunoassay. In this system the recovery of synthetic somatostatin added to plasma aver...