Effect of somatostatin versus octreotide on portal haemodynamics in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Octreotide and Somatostatin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Elevated portal inflow is part of the pathogenesis of portal hypertension in patients with cirrhosis.

Vasoactive substances appear to play a primary role in the regulation of portal flow.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of somatostatin and octreotide on portal pressure and plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), nitric oxide (NO), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and glucagon (GLU).

Who Took Part

The study group was 14 patients.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

Portal pressures of 14 cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension who underwent transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) were directly measured via a catheter placed in the portal vein.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and crossover.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Octreotide and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Octreotide, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

In the crossover set-up each of the patients took both Octreotide and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

Portal pressure and IGF-1, NO, ET-1 and GLU plasma levels were determined at baseline, and at 8 h and 24 h after administration of somatostatin or octreotide via portal vein catheter in a randomized, double-blind, cross-over design.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Glucagon, Hypertension, Portal, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I, Liver Cirrhosis, Octreotide, Portal Pressure and Somatostatin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and crossover study of Octreotide and Somatostatin in 14 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2005 (European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology), a journal based in England.

More context: the Octreotide compound page and the Somatostatin compound page, all human trials.