Endocrine Abstracts

Long-acting somatostatin analogues normalize serum IGF-I levels in about 65% of acromegalic patients. Somatostatin analogs reduce GH secretion but also induce GH resistance of the liver because of low portal insulin levels; i.e. patients have a relative high GH level and a GH resistance of the liver which results in a relative low IGF-I action because of high IGFBP1 levels, but the other tissues still have normal GH sensitivity. One might predict that long-term follow-up of tr...

A unique feature of neuroendocrine tumors is that they express peptide hormone receptors. All five subtypes of somatostatin receptors are expressed in neuroendocrine tumors with dominance for receptor type 2 (SST2). Stimulation of SST2 can not only inhibit hormone release from the tumor, but also tumor cell growth. Both SST2 and 3 are involved in apoptosis of neuroendocrine tumor cells. SST’s in intratumoral blood vessels might implicate a role of anti-angiogenesis of som...

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Cortistatin is a neuropeptide that belongs to the somatostatin family, and shares 11 of its 14 amino acid residues with somatostatin. Studies in the central nervous system have shown that cortistatin has activities different from somatostatin, including enhancing slow wave sleep and selective conductances. However, in the periphery cortistatin appears to act as a somatostatin receptor analog. We have generated cortistatin ko mice and have analyzed the molecular, behavioral and...