The effect of octreotid on bacterial translocation from the gut. An experimental study

Octreotid (OC) is a somatostatin (ST) analog which is being increasingly used during the management of various gastrointestinal disorders. This study was undertaken to assess the probable effects of OC on intraintestinal microflora and bacterial translocation. To our knowledge, no previous work has addressed this issue. Ten rats forming the study group were injected 20 micrograms/kg of OC subcutaneously for seven days. A control group (n = 10) received an equal volume of isotonic saline for seven days. All animals were sacrificed on the eighth day and tissue cultures were obtained from the mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, and spleen. Cultures were also made from the caecal content and a piece of terminal ileum was removed for histopathological examination. For statistical analysis, Mann Whitney-U, and Fisher's exact tests were used. Caecal bacterial content, and bacterial translocation were found to be significantly increased in the study group in comparison to the control group (p < 0.05). Among the study group, there was also a statistically significant increase in the caecal bacterial content in rats with evidence of bacterial translocation (p < 0.05). Histopathological evaluation drew a great deal of attention to submucosal edema present in the study group. OC significantly increases bacterial overgrowth, and translocation in rats. Studies on humans are needed to demonstrate similar clinical effects of OC.