Somatostatin receptor ligands and their use in the treatment of endocrine disorders

Somatostatin is a tetradeca peptide hormone produced by many different endo crine cells throughout the body. It is also present in both the central and peripheral nervous system. The peptide has many different moods of action including inhibition of hormone secretion and influence on gastrointestinal motility. Somatostatin was identified in 1973 and about 10 years later the first long-acting analogue. octreotide. became available for use in clinic al trials. Somatostatin analogues have been used to treat patients with neu roendocrine tumors, such as carcinoid tumors and endocrine pancreatic tumor s, with symptoms due to excessive hormone production. It also has a well-do cumented effect on hormone levels and symptoms in acromegalic patients, whi le the use in diabetes mellitus is less well established. Several new analo gues have been developed and tested for clinical use and lately non-peptide analogues have been produced. These new somatostatin receptor subtype spec ific analogues will soon be tested in clinical trials. In this review artic le the development of new analogues and new preparations of old analogues a nd their use in the clinic is discussed.