Octreotide, sold under the brand name Sandostatin among others, is an octapeptide that mimics natural somatostatin pharmacologically, though it is a more potent inhibitor of growth hormone, glucagon, and insulin than the natural hormone.
| FactSnippet No. 734,005 |
Octreotide is used for the treatment of growth hormone producing tumors, when surgery is contraindicated, pituitary tumors that secrete thyroid-stimulating hormone, diarrhea and flushing episodes associated with carcinoid syndrome, and diarrhea in people with vasoactive intestinal peptide-secreting tumors .
| FactSnippet No. 734,006 |
Octreotide is used in mild cases of glucagonoma when surgery is not an option.
| FactSnippet No. 734,007 |
Octreotide is often given as an infusion for management of acute hemorrhage from esophageal varices in liver cirrhosis on the basis that it reduces portal venous pressure, though current evidence suggests that this effect is transient and does not improve survival.
| FactSnippet No. 734,008 |
Octreotide is used in nuclear medicine imaging by labeling with indium-111 to noninvasively image neuroendocrine and other tumours expressing somatostatin receptors.
| FactSnippet No. 734,009 |
Octreotide can be used in the treatment of acromegaly, a disorder of excessive growth hormone .
| FactSnippet No. 734,010 |
Octreotide, being a somatostatin analog, inhibits the release of GH from the pituitary gland through a process normally involved in negative feedback.
| FactSnippet No. 734,011 |
Octreotide helps in management of the fistula by reducing gastrointestinal secretions and inhibiting gastrointestinal motility, thus controlling and reducing its output.
| FactSnippet No. 734,012 |
Octreotide is used in the treatment of refractory hypoglycemia in neonates and sulphonylurea-induced hypoglycemia in adults.
| FactSnippet No. 734,013 |
Octreotide is used in the palliative care setting to reduce gastrointestinal secretions, with the intention of alleviating vomiting associated with bowel obstruction.
| FactSnippet No. 734,014 |
Octreotide has not been adequately studied for the treatment of children as well as pregnant and lactating women.
| FactSnippet No. 734,015 |
Octreotide can reduce the intestinal reabsorption of ciclosporin, possibly making it necessary to increase the dose.
| FactSnippet No. 734,016 |
Octreotide has been used off-label for the treatment of severe, refractory diarrhea from other causes.
| FactSnippet No. 734,018 |
Octreotide has been investigated in people with pain from chronic pancreatitis.
| FactSnippet No. 734,019 |
Octreotide has been used experimentally to treat obesity, particularly obesity caused by lesions in the hunger and satiety centers of the hypothalamus, a region of the brain central to the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure.
| FactSnippet No. 734,020 |