Somatostatin

What is that

Somatostatin is a protein hormone synthesized by the hypothalamus and by some cells of the digestive system, especially in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas (delta cells).

Functions

Somatostatin exerts a powerful inhibiting effect on the secretion of GH (somatotropin or growth hormone) and prolactin, which is responsible for the anterior pituitary.

This property has made somatostatin particularly suitable for counteracting the dangerous effects induced by an overproduction of GH (acromegaly in adulthood, gigantism in childhood).

Somatostatin is also produced at the level of the APUD system (Amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation), whose cells are located at different levels of the digestive system. In these sites the specific action of somatostatin also changes, even if the general action on the Inhibition of other hormones. In addition to GH, somatostatin tends to inhibit the secretory activity of glucagon, insulin, renin, thyroid hormones and cortisol. Somatostatin also exerts an inhibiting effect on the gastric secretion of cholecystokinin (CCK), secretin, hydrochloric acid and gastrin.

Somatostatin and Cancer

Thanks to the discovery of analogous substances of synthetic origin, such as octreotide and lanreotide (with a "longer half-life), somatostatin-based drugs are now also used in the diagnosis and treatment of some types of cancer.

The alleged anticancer properties of somatostatin have been the focus of numerous studies and research for many years. The continuous succession of confirmations and denials suggests that these effects are actually limited to some specific cases, in which somatostatin becomes effective in inhibiting the proliferation of tumor cells.

Precisely because of these properties, somatostatin rose to the fore in the Italian chronicles at the end of the 90s as the key substance on which Prof. di Bella's therapy was centered.