What is that
Somatostatin is a protein-like hormone synthesized by the hypothalamus and some digestive cells, especially at the level of the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas (delta cells).
Functions
Somatostatin exerts a powerful inhibitory effect on the secretion of GH (somatotropin or growth hormone) and prolactin, to which the anterior pituitary is assigned.
This property has made somatostatin particularly suitable for counteracting the dangerous effects induced by overproduction of GH (acromegaly in adulthood, gigantism during childhood).
Somatostatin is also produced at the level of the APUD system (Amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation), whose cells are found at different levels of the digestive system. The specific action of somatostatin also changes in these sites, even if the general action on the inhibition of other hormones is maintained. 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.
Because of these properties, somatostatin rose to prominence in the Italian chronicles at the end of the 1990s as a key substance on which the therapy of prof. of Bella.
