Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P61278 (somatostatin)
 22,083 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Experimental and clinical studies suggest that somatostatin, a regulatory peptide widely distributed in human tissues may have electrophysiologic effects. We studied a group of 14 patients who underwent a complete electrophysiologic study for different rhythm disturbances. Somatostatin significantly increased the spontaneous cycle length, the atrial and atrioventricular nodal effective refractory periods, and the Wenckebach cycle length. The AH and HV intervals during sinus rhythm remained unchanged. The effectiveness of somatostatin to interrupt paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardias was assessed in 18 patients. Termination was obtained in 15 (82.5%). Our results show that somatostatin has a significant electrophysiologic effect on the human heart, and confirm its clinical effectiveness in some arrhythmias.
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PMID:Electrophysiologic effects of somatostatin in man. 287 49

Four cases of esophageal carcinoma arising in metaplastic Barrett's epithelium are presented in which multidirectional differentiation was demonstrated by light and/or electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. All tumors and adjacent mucosa produced both neutral and acidic mucins, as well as one or more hormones indigenous to the gut, including gastrin, bombesin, substance P, somatostatin, and serotonin. Gastrin and somatostatin were the peptides most frequently identified in the tumors, while somatostatin and serotonin predominated in Barrett's epithelium. Ultrastructurally, neurosecretory-type granules, 80-250 nm in diameter, were present in 2 cases; squamous features also were present in one of these cases. One patient displayed hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, which disappeared after the tumor was resected. These cases represent the majority of the Barrett-associated carcinomas in our material. Compared to the "pure" esophageal adenocarcinomas not included in this report, these tumors behaved more aggressively, with wider local involvement and nodal and systemic metastases at the time of presentation. The incidence of multidifferentiation in esophageal carcinomas is not known nor is its possible significance, particularly with regard to tumors arising in metaplastic epithelium. This group may merit further study to detect true differences, if any, between these esophageal carcinomas and their apparently more common counterparts.
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PMID:Carcinoma with multidirectional differentiation arising in Barrett's esophagus. 613 8

Intracardiac teratoma is an extremely rare pediatric neoplasm. We studied the case of a 6-year-old girl with a right intraventricular cardiac mass. The tumor consisted of clusters of monotonous round epithelial cells scattered in a dense fibrotic stroma and was thought to represent an atrioventricular nodal tumor. Three years later the tumor recurred, with multiple mature elements derived from all three germ layers, and was diagnosed as mature cystic teratoma. Still present, however, were multiple areas that were histologically similar to the earlier lesion. Immunostaining revealed strong positivity for insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, and chromogranin consistent with overgrown pancreatic islets of Langerhans within a mature teratoma.
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PMID:Intracardiac teratoma in a child simulating an atrioventricular nodal tumor. 785 10

Somatostatin (S), a naturally occurring peptide, was first discovered more than 20 years ago. This peptide was later found in many tissues, including human cardiac tissue. High concentration of S was found in the sinus and atrioventricular (AV) nodes. Negative chronotropic activity of S and depressive effects of this substance on AF junction have also been described. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of S on the cardiac conduction system in man during antegrade and retrograde conduction. The study group consisted of 12 pts (5 women and 7 men, mean age 43 years). They were subjected to invasive electrophysiologic testing because of sudden unexplained heart palpitations. After measuring all electrophysiologic variables in the control state, each patient was given S (preparation Stilamin, Serono) intravenously with a syringe pump at a dose of 8.5 micrograms/min, for about 30 min. All the electrophysiologic measurements were repeated in the same order, beginning from the 6th min after the start of S injection. S prolonged mean sinus cycle length by 13%, sinoatrial, intraatrial and AV nodal conduction times by 15, 9 and 10%, respectively. Effective refractory periods of the atrium, AV node and right ventricle were prolonged by 7, 8 and 8%, respectively (all p values less than 0.01). Antegrade AV nodal Wenckebach cycle length, as well as retrograde, increased significantly (by 9 and 10% respectively). There were no significant changes of the mean HV interval, corrected QT interval, ventriculoatrial conduction time and corrected sinus node recovery time during S infusion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Effect of somatostatin on the conduction system of the heart]. 810 33

Quantitative measurements of relative nerve density were achieved using computer-assisted image analysis of immunohistochemically and histochemically defined nerves in the conduction system of the guinea pig heart. All regions of the conduction system possessed a similar density of nerve fibres and fascicles displaying immunoreactivity for the general neuronal marker protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5), and this was 3 to 4-fold higher than in the adjacent myocardium. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) positive and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive nerves were the main subtypes identified in the sinus and atrioventricular nodes, representing 40-45% of the stained area occupied by PGP 9.5-immunoreactive nerves. AChE-positive nerves were the dominant subtype identified in the left and right bundle branches, but were equal in proportion to TH-immunoreactive nerves in the penetrating bundle. Neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive nerves represented the main peptide-containing subpopulation in the nodal tissues, displaying a similar pattern of distribution and relative density to those nerves demonstrating TH immunoreactivity. Substance P and calcitonin gene-related polypeptide immunoreactive nerves were present throughout the conduction system and represented the main peptide-containing subpopulation in the ventricular conduction tissues. Nerve fibres showing immunoreactivity for either somatostatin or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide exhibited distinct patterns of distribution and comprised a relatively minor component of the innervation. The innervation of the guinea pig conduction tissues thus exhibits a uniform distribution and it comprises putative parasympathetic nerves and intrinsic neurons (AChE positive), sympathetic efferent nerves (NPY and TH-immunoreactive nerves) as well as other peptide-containing nerves, some of which (substance P and calcitonin gene-related polypeptide) are considered to represent afferent nerves. The distribution and density of nerve subpopulations in the guinea pig conduction system differ from those observed in the human conduction system, which suggests that the guinea pig may be an inappropriate model for comparative functional studies.
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PMID:A quantitative study of nerve distribution in the conduction system of the guinea pig heart. 862 40

Somatostatin-receptor imaging is an effective method for localizing and staging neuroendocrine tumors. We describe patients with gastroenteropancreatic endocrine tumors who underwent preoperative indium In 111 pentetreotide scintigraphy. In 3 patients without prior resections, the results of a 111In pentetreotide scan were positive because of unsuspected regional lymph node metastases without localization of the primary tumors. In these patients, an extensive intraoperative search was required to identify the primary tumors, despite the positive preoperative scan results. In a fourth patient, who had previously undergone resection of a duodenal gastrinoma, 2 regional nodal metastases were identified by a 111In pentetreotide scan.
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PMID:Preferential localization of regional metastases from gastroenteropancreatic endocrine tumors with somatostatin-receptor scintigraphy. 895 77

Several authors proposed the stage at diagnosis and some histopathological features as prognostic factors of bronchial carcinoids. However, since large tumour diameters or nodal metastases are frequently associated to aggressive histology, their prognostic role is unclear. To investigate the relationships between the clinicopathological parameters at diagnosis and outcome, 21 patients were analysed. Overall 26% of the radically resected patients recurred. Recurrences and disease-specific mortality were related to atypical histology and, only in cases with typical histology, to the presence of hilar or mediastinal lymph node metastases. These prognostic factors were valuable independently of the size of the primary tumour, that was remarkably homogeneous, always less than 3 cm, thus not predictive of recurrence. Moreover we evaluated the role of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy, a diagnostic tool only preliminary studied in this field. Scintigraphy with 111In-octreotide revealed the primary tumours at diagnosis (8/8), the increase in tumour size in two unresected patients, and all the cases of recurrent or metastatic disease (5/11), sometimes before the appearance of symptoms. These results suggest the usefulness of histology and nodal status as prognostic factors in clinical practice. Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy turns out to be a powerful diagnostic tool, for an accurate staging and an early diagnosis of recurrence in bronchial carcinoids.
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PMID:Bronchial carcinoid tumours: a study on clinicopathological features and role of octreotide scintigraphy. 1002 17

Based on a statistically reliable number of cases reported in international literature, this study aimed to analyze the present status of vipoma/diarrheogenic syndrome (DGS). Another purpose was to supply investigators in the field of pancreatic endocrinology with precise and extensive information for the future analysis and evaluation of this subject and related problems. We obtained a total of 241 patients with vipoma/DGS from the international literature of 179 with intrapancreatic vipomas, 48 with extrapancreatic neurogenic tumors such as ganglioneuroblastomas, ganglioneuromas and neuroblastomas, and 14 with extrapancreatic vipomas of non-neurogenic nature. When data were considered adequate, a comparative study was attempted between the two groups. A statistically significant difference between the two groups with pancreatic vipomas and neurogenic tumors was found in the rate of the associated syndrome (84.4% versus 95.8%: averaging 86.3%), in tumors the size of which was over 20 mm (79.1% versus 100.0%), in the metastases (56.4% versus 29.2%) and rate of malignancy (64.8% versus 33.3%), and in the rate of resection of primary lesions (68.7% versus 87.5%). When compared to nodal metastasis, hepatic involvement was significantly more frequent in the pancreatic vipoma group (4.2% versus 20.8%). Recent trials of adjuvant chemotherapy with somatostatin analogues indicates an effective result of 78.4% exceeding 31.0% when treated with streptozotocin. The 5-year survival rate in 89 effective patients with pancreatic vipomas was 68.5%; 59.6% for 43 of the patients with metastases and 94.4% for 46 of the patients without metastases.
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PMID:Vipoma/diarrheogenic syndrome: a statistical evaluation of 241 reported cases. 1008 56

The proto-oncogene c-jun is involved in cellular proliferation by interfering with signals that lead to cellular differentiation. Moreover the induction of metalloproteinase gene appears to utilise the c-jun oncogene as intracellular messenger. The aims of this study were to evaluate a) the expression of c-jun oncogene in pancreatic cancer b) its relation with tumor histological features. Surgical specimens of pancreatic cancer were collected from 22 patients radically operated upon, and from 11 submitted to palliation. As a control group, 5 specimens of normal pancreas and 5 specimens of chronic pancreatitis were studied. C-jun staining was graded as follows: (-) positive cells < 10%, (+) from 10 to 30%, (+2), from 30 to 60%, (+3) from 60 to 90%. Glucagon and somatostatin staining was graded counting the positive cells of total numer of Langherans islet cells counted. c-Jun expression (low: < 30% and high: > 30%) was related to stage, architectural and cytological grading, vascular, lymph nodal, perineural invasion. Normal pancreas and chronic pancreatitis tissues appear to express the c-jun protein in less than 10% of ductal cells. The percentage of tumor cells stained for c-jun is increased as compared to the control group in 28/33 cases: in 13 (46%) it ranges from 10 to 30%; in 10 (36%) from 30 to 60% and in 5 (18%) from 60 to 90%. The frequency of high or low c-jun expression is not different in relation to the histological features of tumor. Moreover, c-jun protein is present in 40% of cells of Langherans islets in normal pancreas, chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. The Langherans islet cells stained for c-jun exhibit also a positivity for glucagon. In conclusion; a) in pancreatic cancer, the expression of c-jun is increased in tumour cells in majority of cases as compared to the control group, b) a c-jun positivity is also found in alpha cells with a pattern not different from control group, but the relation between the alpha cells and c-jun production is unknown, c) c-jun expression does not vary in relation to histological findings.
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PMID:The expression of proto-oncogene c-jun in human pancreatic cancer. 1021 7

This study was prompted by the prospect of transgenic pigs providing donor hearts for transplantation in human recipients. Autonomic innervation is important for the control of cardiac dynamics, especially in the conduction system. Our objective was to assess the relative distribution of autonomic nerves in the pig heart, focusing initially on the conduction system but addressing also the myocardium, endocardium and epicardium (see Crick et al. 1999). Quantitative immunohistochemical and histochemical techniques were adopted. All regions of the conduction system possessed a significantly higher relative density of the total neural population immunoreactive for the general neuronal marker protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) than did the adjacent myocardium. A similar density of PGP 9.5-immunoreactive innervation was observed between the sinus node, the transitional region of the atrioventricular node, and the penetrating atrioventricular bundle. A differential pattern of PGP 9.5-immunoreactive innervation was present within the atrioventricular node and between the components of the ventricular conduction tissues, the latter being formed by an intricate network of Purkinje fibres. Numerous ganglion cell bodies were present in the peripheral regions of the sinus node, in the tissues of the atrioventricular groove, and even in the interstices of the compact atrioventricular node. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-containing nerves were the dominant subpopulation observed, representing 60-70% of the total pattern of innervation in the nodal tissues and penetrating atrioventricular bundle. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive nerves were the next most abundant neural subpopulation, representing 37% of the total pattern of innervation in the compact atrioventricular node compared with 25% in the transitional nodal region. A minor population of ganglion cell bodies within the atrioventricular nodal region displayed TH immunoreactivity. The dominant peptidergic nerve supply possessed immunoreactivity for neuropeptide Y (NPY), which displayed a similar pattern of distribution to that of TH-immunoreactive nerve fibres. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-immunoreactive nerves represented 8-9% of the total innervation of the nodal tissues and penetrating atrioventricular bundle, increasing to 14-19% in the bundle branches. Somatostatin-immunoreactive nerve fibres were relatively sparse (4-13% of total innervation) and were most abundant in the nodes, especially the compact atrioventricular node. The total pattern of innervation of the porcine conduction system was relatively homogeneous. A substantial proportion of nerve fibres innervating the nodal tissues could be traced to intracardiac ganglia indicative of an extensive intrinsic supply. The innervation of the atrioventricular node and ventricular conduction tissues was similar to that observed in the bovine heart, but markedly different to that of the human heart. It is important that we are aware of these findings in view of the future use of transgenic pig hearts in human xenotransplantation.
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PMID:Localisation and quantitation of autonomic innervation in the porcine heart I: conduction system. 1058 Aug 50


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