Dissociated effects of somatostatin analogs on arginine-induced insulin, glucagon and growth hormone release in acromegalic patients.

Two analogs of somatostatin (Ala2,D-Trp8,D-Cys14-Somatostatin and L-5F-Trp8-Somatostatin) infused into acromegalics at the rate of 4.5 micrograms/min suppressed arginine-stimulated growth hormone release more strongly than 6 micrograms/min somatostatin (110 +/- 11% and 129 +/- 14%, respectively). Under the same conditions the two somatostatin analogs induced a much smaller inhibition of insulin (33 +/- 13% and 44 +/- 18%) and glucagon (28 +/- 10% and 45 +/- 17%, respectively) release than somatostatin did. Somatostatin analogs with dissociated actions could be promising for the treatment of diseases such as acromegaly, diabetes mellitus and some ectopic hormone syndromes.