Octreotide CAS:79517-01-4

Octreotide (brand name Sandostatin, Novartis Pharmaceuticals) 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. It was first synthesized in 1979 by the chemist Wilfried Bauer.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the usage of a salt form of this peptide, octreotide acetate, as an injectable depot formulation for the treatment of acromegaly, the treatment of diarrhea and flushing episodes associated with carcinoid syndrome, and treatment of diarrhoea in patients with vasoactive intestinal peptide-secreting tumors (VIPomas).

L'octreotide è stato utilizzato anche off-label per il trattamento di forme gravi, diarrea refrattaria da altre cause. È utilizzato in tossicologia per il trattamento dell'ipoglicemia ricorrente prolungata dopo sovradosaggio di sulfanilurea e possibilmente meglitinidi. It has also been used with varying degrees of success in infants with nesidioblastosis to help decrease insulin hypersecretion.

L'octreotide è stato usato sperimentalmente per trattare l'obesità, in particolare l'obesità causata da lesioni nei centri della fame e della sazietà dell'ipotalamo, una regione del cervello centrale per la regolazione dell'assunzione di cibo e del dispendio energetico. The circuit begins with an area of the hypothalamus, the arcuate nucleus, that has outputs to the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), the brain's feeding and satiety centers, respectively. The VMH is sometimes injured by ongoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or surgery or radiation to treat posterior cranial fossa tumors.