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Dose-Response Study and Long Term Effect of the Somatostatin Analog Octreotide in Patients with Therapy-Resistant Acromegaly^*

Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Endocrinology, Klinikum Steglitz, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin, West Germany

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: H.-J. Quabbe, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine, Klinikum Steglitz, Freie Universität Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, D 1000 Berlin 45, West Germany.

Twelve acromegalic patients in whom standard therapy was unsuccessful were evaluated with 24-h serum GH profiles (hourly sampling) and oral glucose tests (oGTT) while being treated with octreotide, a long-acting somatostatin analog. During a dose-response study (300, 600, and 1500 µg/day sc, for 4 weeks), serum GH decreased significantly after 300 µg/day in 8 of 12 patients [from 14.5 ± 6.2 (±SE) to 4.9 ± 1.9 µg/L]. Higher doses further reduced serum GH concentrations in 3 (600 µg/day) and 1 (1500 µg/day) patients, respectively. Four patients did not respond to any dose. Serum GH concentrations declined normally (GH nadir, <2 µg/L) after glucose ingestion in 4 of the 10 nondiabetic acromegalic patients. In 4 patients, including 2 of the initial nonresponders, serum GH further declined during long term treatment (12 and 18 months). In the latter 2 patients, serum insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentrations had decreased during the dose-response study despite the absence of measurable GH suppression. Eight patients attained normal serum IGF-I concentrations during treatment. Serum IGF-I and GH correlated significantly before, but not during, treatment. Retrospective comparison suggested that in 5 of 6 patients, serum GH was more effectively suppressed by octreotide than by bromocriptine. The 24-h serum octreotide concentration varied greatly among the patients. Although the 24-h serum octreotide and GH concentrations did not correlate with one another, the serum octreotide and IGF-I concentrations when the patients were receiving 300 µg/day tended to be negatively correlated (r = –0.496; P = 0.118). The 24-h serum insulin values decreased and those of glucose increased during treatment; after oral glucose, serum insulin was lower and glucose was higher. However, after 12 months of treatment, the 8-h serum insulin profile and peak serum insulin after oral glucose administration had returned to pretreatment values, while serum glucose remained abnormal.

We conclude that 1) octreotide lowers serum GH in many, but not all, acromegalic patients resistant to other forms of treatment; 2) doses in excess of 300 µg/day should be tested in those patients in whom lower doses are ineffective; 3) serum IGF-I measurement may be a better indicator of treatment success than GH measurement; 4) octreotide concentrations do not correlate with GH suppression; and 5) deterioration of carbohydrate tolerance does occur but tends to improve during chronic treatment.

^* The results of this study have been presented in part at the First European Congress on Endocrinology, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1987, and at the 32nd Symposium of the German Endocrine Society, Hamburg, West Germany, 1988.

Received September 12, 1988.

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