Randomized study of the effect of pentoxifylline or octreotide on serum levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Octreotide in this randomized controlled trial publication.

To study the effect of pentoxifylline and octreotide administration on serum levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6, in patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), whether they developed pancreatitis or not.

Who Took Part

The study group was 6, patients.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

Out of 590 patients undergoing ERCP, 30 who developed pancreatitis and 25 who did not (controls) were enrolled.

Pentoxifylline was given to 23 patients (15 with and eight without pancreatitis) and octreotide to 19 patients (nine with and 10 without pancreatitis, respectively).

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

Because people in this Octreotide study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Blood samples were collected at baseline, 6 and 24 h after ERCP.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Acute Disease, Biomarkers, Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde, Gastrointestinal Agents, Inflammation Mediators, Interleukin-6 and Octreotide.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Octreotide in 6, 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.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2009 (European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology), a journal based in England.

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