title: Octreotide: a drug often used in the critical care setting but not well understood.
abstract: While the canonical function of somatostatin (SST) is to inhibit the secretion of growth hormone, it has a number of other physiologic effects that are less widely appreciated. Octreotide, an analog of SST, is not uncommonly used in the critical care setting, particularly for the treatment of variceal hemorrhage. Herein, we discuss the biology and pharmacology of SST, octreotide, and other SST analogs. We also review the evidence behind their use in esophageal variceal bleeds, hepatorenal syndrome, hypoglycemia due to sulfonylurea poisoning, and chylous pleural effusions.
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver.
authors.forename: Mallory M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora.
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora; Department of Medicine, Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Denver.
authors.forename: John Andrew
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mengshol
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora.
authors.forename: Douglas N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Fish
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver; University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora; Department of Medicine, Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Denver; Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora; Departments of Medicine and Academic Affairs, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO. Electronic address: chane@njhealth.org.
authors.forename: Edward D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D004932:Esophageal and Gastric Varices / Q000188:drug therapy; D006530:Hepatorenal Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000188:drug therapy; D015282:Octreotide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000188:drug therapy; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*
chemical_list: D013004:Somatostatin; D015282:Octreotide