Effects of octreotide, a somatostatin analogue, on gastric function evaluated by real-time ultrasonography

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Octreotide, published as a controlled clinical trial.

To determine by use of ultrasonography and scintigraphy the effect of a somatostatin analog, octreotide, on gastric emptying and antral contraction.

Why It Was Studied

Somatostatin exerts inhibitory effects on physiological functions in the gastrointestinal tract.

Who Took Part

The study group was 9 subjects.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, men only.

Twenty healthy men; mean age 23.9 years.

Ten subjects received a liquid meal, 10 others received a solid meal.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as placebo-controlled.

Some subjects received a placebo instead of Octreotide, giving a reference point.

With the liquid meal, gastric emptying was measured 15 min after its ingestion and antral contraction was measured for 15 min by ultrasonography.

With the solid meal, gastric emptying was measured both by ultrasonography (n = 10) and by simultaneous scintigraphy (n = 6), with antral contraction measured by ultrasonography for 5 h after ingestion of the meal.

What Was Measured

Somatostatin exerts inhibitory effects on physiological functions in the gastrointestinal tract.

The subject headings attached to it are Gastric Emptying, Gastrointestinal Agents, Octreotide, Pyloric Antrum, Stomach and Ultrasonography.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a placebo-controlled study of Octreotide in 9 subjects.

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.

Its findings take up roughly 2 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 1997 (Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics), a journal based in England.

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