Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0000729 (abdominal cramps)
 531 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In a group of patients affected with psoriatic arthritis the effects of the association between gold salts (GS) and somatostatin (SOM), in comparison with two groups treated with SOM and GS respectively, were investigated. Sixty patients with psoriatic arthritis were selected and randomly allocated in three groups of twenty patients each. Group 1 received SOM infusion (250 micrograms/h for 96 h) and was assessed at baseline and 1, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after; Group 2 received intramuscular GS and was assessed at baseline, four months later, and then every month for four months; Group 3 received GS for 8 months; at the fourth month SOM was infused (as in Group 1) and the patients assessed at baseline four months later and then as Group 1. Assessment was made with the Ritchie index, pain scale and morning stiffness evaluation. Growth hormone was assayed in Group 1 every 4 h for 24 h the day before and the day after SOM infusion. The association between GS and SOM demonstrated a particular analgesic activity, effective on joint pain and tenderness, that lasted for all four months of follow-up. SOM showed a good response only after 15 and 30 days, and GS proved to be effective at about the sixth month of treatment. Side effects were reported in Group 1 (abdominal cramps, mild erythrodermia and supraventricular arrhythmia). A growth hormone circadian rhythm was found in psoriatic patients both before and after SOM treatment. The beneficial effect of the SOM/GS combination is demonstrated in psoriatic arthritis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Gold salts and somatostatin: a new combined analgesic treatment for psoriatic arthritis. 135 20

Octreotide is an analogue of somatostatin. Like endogenous somatostatin, it exerts a potent inhibitory effect on the release of anterior pituitary growth hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone, and peptides of the gastroenteropancreatic endocrine system, while overcoming some of the shortcomings of exogenously administered somatostatin, namely a short duration of action, a need for intravenous administration and postinfusion rebound hypersecretion of hormone. Clinical studies have shown that octreotide is effective in the treatment of acromegaly and thyrotrophinomas. In comparative trials octreotide was significantly superior to bromocriptine in patients with acromegaly. Octreotide also appears to provide a significant advantage over existing therapies in the management of the carcinoid syndrome and offers considerable therapeutic potential in reversing carcinoid crises which may be life-threatening. Trials in patients with tumours producing vasoactive intestinal peptide demonstrated that octreotide may be an effective first-line choice for this condition, which has usually metastasised and become refractory to traditional symptomatic therapy. In limited studies in patients with high-output secretory diarrhoea, including cryptosporidium-related diarrhoea associated with AIDS and in patients with small bowel fistulas, octreotide has been shown to be effective in reducing stool/fistula output. However, well-designed clinical trials are still required to confirm its long term usefulness in these disorders. Similarly, although the use of octreotide in other conditions such as neonatal hypoglycaemia caused by nesidioblastosis, reactive pancreatitis, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, postprandial hypotension and the dumping syndrome has provided encouraging preliminary results, more studies are needed to clarify the place of octreotide in their treatment. Overall, octreotide appears to be well tolerated with the most frequently reported reactions being pain at the site of injection and gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal cramps, nausea, bloating, flatulence, diarrhoea and steatorrhoea. These adverse effects usually abate with time. Additionally, octreotide, like endogenous somatostatin, may also result in cholelithiasis, presumably by altering fat absorption and possibly by decreasing motility of the gallbladder. Thus, octreotide represents a new departure from traditional therapies in the treatment of various pathophysiological states associated with excessive peptide production and secretion. It offers a significant advantage over existing therapies in the medical management of patients with acromegaly, thyrotrophinomas, the carcinoid syndrome, tumours producing vasoactive intestinal peptide and severe secretory diarrhoea in whom conventional management options have either become exhausted or have provided suboptimal symptomatic relief.
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PMID:Octreotide. A review of its pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties, and therapeutic potential in conditions associated with excessive peptide secretion. 268 36

Twelve patients with active acromegaly, six of whom had not responded to previous combined surgery, radiotherapy, and bromocriptine administration, were treated with an octapeptide long-acting somatostatin analogue, SMS 201-995, given subcutaneously for up to 1 year. Growth hormone (GH) levels decreased by 50% to 90% after a single 25-micrograms SMS 201-995 injection in all patients, including two who were resistant to bromocriptine therapy. After GH values reached a nadir, they returned to preinjection values over a 12-hour period and no rebound was seen. Assessment of the GH-lowering effect of the drug at weekly intervals for the first 6 weeks and monthly thereafter disclosed no tachyphylaxis. Gradual increase of the dose from 50 to 150 micrograms daily led to a significant increase in clinical improvement. Shrinkage of the size of the pituitary tumor was documented in three of nine evaluated cases. Abdominal cramps of a transient nature not associated with diarrhea were noted in two patients but there were no other side effects. Hematological and biochemical blood and urine tests, including serum thyroxine and cortisol levels, did not reveal any abnormality during chronic treatment. This study demonstrates the safety and efficacy of SMS 201-995 in the short-term treatment of acromegaly.
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PMID:Therapeutic efficacy of a somatostatin analogue (SMS 201-995) in active acromegaly. 287 84