This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gambineri, A. Articles by Pasquali, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gambineri, A. Articles by Pasquali, R. Related Collections Female Endocrinology Obesity

Efficacy of Octreotide-LAR in Dieting Women with Abdominal Obesity and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, and Center for Applied Biomedical Research, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital (A.G., L.P., R.D.I., U.P., R.P.), and Reproductive Endocrinology Center (B.C., G.E.C., M.F.), University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy; Department of Endocrinological and Metabolic Sciences and Center for Excellence for Biomedical Research, University of Genova (A.B.), 16132 Genova, Italy; and Endocrine Section, First Department of Internal Medicine, Athens University School of Medicine, Laiko General Hospital (E.D.-K.), 17562 Athens, Greece

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Renato Pasquali, Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy. E-mail: renato.pasquali{at}unibo.it.

Context: Somatostatin reduces LH, GH, and insulin, and somatostatin receptors are present at the ovarian level; somatostatin analogs are thus potential candidates for treatment of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of octreotide-LAR, a long-acting somatostatin analog, in anovulatory abdominal obese women with PCOS.

Design: A single-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed, lasting for 7 months.

Setting: The patients were ambulatory throughout the study.

Patients: Twenty PCOS subjects were enrolled. Eighteen completed the study.

Interventions: A low-calorie diet was given during the first month, a low-calorie diet plus octreotide-LAR (10 mg; n = 10 subjects) or placebo (n = 10 subjects) was then given, with one im injection every 28 d (for 6 months).

Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures were clinical features, computerized tomography measurement of fat distribution, androgens, GH, IGF-I, IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs), fasting and glucose-stimulated insulin, and ovulation.

Results: Octreotide had no additional effect in reducing body fat or improving fat distribution than placebo. Conversely, octreotide produced an additional decrease in fasting (P = 0.018) and glucose-stimulated (P = 0.038) insulin levels, an increase in IGFBP-2 (P = 0.042) and IGFBP-3 (P = 0.047), and an improvement in hirsutism (P = 0.004). Moreover, a trend toward greater reductions in testosterone (P = 0.061) and androstenedione (P = 0.069) was observed in women treated with octreotide-LAR compared with those given placebo. All women treated with octreotide ovulated at the end of the study compared with only one of those receiving placebo (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Octreotide-LAR may be usefully applied to hypocalorically dieting, abdominal obese PCOS women to improve hyperandrogenism and the insulin-IGF-I system. Restoration of ovulatory menstrual cycles appears to be another advantage of this treatment.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Codner and H. F. Escobar-Morreale Hyperandrogenism and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Women with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., April 1, 2007; 92(4): 1209 - 1216. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Gambineri, L. Patton, A. Vaccina, M. Cacciari, A. M. Morselli-Labate, C. Cavazza, U. Pagotto, and R. Pasquali Treatment with Flutamide, Metformin, and Their Combination Added to a Hypocaloric Diet in Overweight-Obese Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Randomized, 12-Month, Placebo-Controlled Study J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., October 1, 2006; 91(10): 3970 - 3980. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Pasquali and A. Gambineri Insulin-sensitizing agents in polycystic ovary syndrome. Eur. J. Endocrinol., June 1, 2006; 154(6): 763 - 775. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]