title: Does the neuropeptide somatostatin have therapeutic potential against schistosomiasis?
abstract: The neuropeptide hormone somatostatin is used to treat bleeding oesophageal varices and to reduce portal pressure, and can prevent progression to severe fibrosis in chronic liver disease. We believe that somatostatin can also have therapeutic potential against schistosomiasis, based on recent observations that severe morbidity symptoms are associated with low levels of host somatostatin in patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni. The administration of exogenous doses of this neuropeptide could therefore alleviate the pathology caused by schistosomiasis.
authors.affiliation: Pathology Unit, Dept of Medicine, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium. shyama@uia.ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Shyama
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Amadou
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mbaye
authors.forename: Joris G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: De Man
authors.forename: Eric A E
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Van Marck
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012547:Schistosoma / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D012552:Schistosomiasis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D013004:Somatostatin