Protective effect of the somatostatin analogue octreotide in ischemia reperfusion-induced acute pancreatitis in rats

Somatostatin and its stable analogue octreotide are proposed to ameliorate the outcome from acute pancreatitis by inhibiting pancreatic secretion and preventing cell injury. This study investigated the effect of somatostatin analogue octreotide on pancreatic microcirculatory injury (by means of intravital fluorescence microscopy) and enzyme release after ischemia/reperfusion of the pancreas in rats. Octreotide, injected 15 min before the end of 2 h of ischemia as a bolus injection (50 mu g kg(-1) i.v.) or as a continuous infusion (50 mu g kg(-1) h(-1) i.v.), attenuated postischemic reperfusion injury of the pancreas as evidenced by a significant (p < 0.05) improvement in capillary perfusion and decrease in leukocyte-endothelium interaction in postcapillary venules compared to ischemia without treatment. Pancreas amylase concentration remained unchanged in the octreotide group but increased significantly (p < 0.05) in the ischemia group. These results indicate a protective effect of octreotide against postischemic reperfusion injury of the pancreas in rats.