[The effects of somatostatin in acromegaly]

Somatostatine is the hypothalamic factor which inhibits the secretion of growth hormone. The administration of a synthetic form decreased growth hormone levels by 50 to 75% in 5 acromegalic patients. The action is rapid but the effect is not prolonged. Prolactin was reduced in only case with galactorrhea. Thyreostimulin, as well as gastrin, are unaffected. Plasma insulin levels, and to a lesser extent those of glucagon, are decreased by somatostatine which causes no variation in either cortisol or blood glucose. Somatostatine, by correcting the pathological secretion of hormone, opens the way to medical treatment of acromegaly.