Somatostatin like immunoreactivity and the density of somatostatin binding sites were measured in stomach (fundus and antrum) from either fed, 12 to 96 hours fasted, or 96 hours fasted plus 48 hours refed rabbits. The somatostatin concentration increased in fundic and antral mucosa after 24 h and reached its highest value after 96 h of fasting. The number of specific somatostatin binding sites ...

Somatostatin was applied to rat cortical neurons grown in dispersed cell culture while electrophysiological effects were monitored with intracellular recordings. The effects of somatostatin were predominantly excitatory, but they varied and were dose dependent. Somatostatin at concentrations between 100 pM and 1 microM depolarized 30 of 87 neurons, often with a concomitant increase in spontaneo...

The tetradecapeptide somatostatin produced dose-related neurological deficits following subarachnoid injection in the lumbar spinal cords of rats. Lower pharmacological doses (1.6 and 3.1 nmol, i.t.) of somatostatin caused only transient deficits, while higher doses (6.2-25 nmol, i.t.) caused persistent deficits characterized by motor and sensory impairments in hindlimbs and tail, hindlimb edem...

The binding of somatostatin was studied in the cytosolic fraction of bovine gallbladder mucosa. The binding reaction depended on time, temperature and pH, and was reversible, saturable and specific. Stoichiometric data suggested the presence of two classes of binding sites: a class with high affinity (K d -23.6 nM) and low capacity (3.7 pmol somatostatin/mg protein) and a class with low affinit...

Somatostatin receptors are present in the normal adrenal cortex and medulla. These receptors are also expressed by tumors that cause Cushing's syndrome and by pheochromocytomas. Somatostatin analogues such as octreotide have been developed to target somatostatin receptors for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This article reviews the current knowledge of the biology of somatostatin receptors...

Physiological stimuli from inside and outside the stomach coverage on gastric effector neurons that are the primary regulators of acid secretion. The effector neurons comprise cholinergic neurons and two types of non-cholinergic neurons: bombesin/GRP and VIP neurons. The neurons act directly on target cells or indirectly by regulating release of the hormone, gastrin, the stimulatory paracrine a...

We have examined the coupling between somatostatin, gastrin, and gastric acidity, using sheep chronically immunized against somatostatin. All immunized sheep had high-titer (3.2 × 105 ± 1.1 × 104 M), high-affinity (1.5 × 1011± 1.2 × 1010 l/mol) antibodies. However, basal gastrin and gastric acidity were similar to those in control animals, indicating that an inhibitory somatostatin tone was not...

Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) have distinct biological and clinical characteristics, in particular a high density of somatostatin receptors at the cell membrane [1]. It is this property that allows the use of radiolabelled somatostatin analogues for imaging of these tumours. Importantly, somatostatin receptor PET/CT imaging (e.g. Ga-DOTATOC, Ga-DOTATATE, Ga-DOTANOC) is superior to somatostatin ...

Functional studies indicate that the midbrain periaqueductal grey (PAG) is involved in the analgesic actions of somatostatin; however, the cellular actions of somatostatin in this brain region are unknown. In the present study, whole-cell patch clamp recordings were made from rat PAG neurons in vitro. In 93% of acutely isolated neurons, somatostatin inhibited Ca(2+)-channel currents. This effec...

Animals respond to environmental and social change with plasticity in the neural substrates underlying particular behavioral states. In the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni, social dominance status in males is accompanied by reduced somatic growth rate as well as increased somatostatin neuron size in the preoptic area. Although somatostatin is commonly studied within the context of gr...