gastrins and Galactorrhea

Somatostatine is the hypothalamic factor which inhibits the secretion of growth hormone. The administration of a synthetic form decreased growth hormone levels by 50 to 75% in 5 acromegalic patients. The action is rapid but the effect is not prolonged. Prolactin was reduced in only case with galactorrhea. Thyreostimulin, as well as gastrin, are unaffected. Plasma insulin levels, and to a lesser extent those of glucagon, are decreased by somatostatine which causes no variation in either cortisol or blood glucose. Somatostatine, by correcting the pathological secretion of hormone, opens the way to medical treatment of acromegaly.

Topics: Acromegaly; Adult; Aged; Blood Glucose; Clinical Trials as Topic; Depression, Chemical; Female; Galactorrhea; Gastrins; Glucagon; Growth Hormone; Hormones; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Insulin; Islets of Langerhans; Male; Middle Aged; Pituitary Gland, Anterior; Pregnancy; Prolactin; Somatostatin; Thyrotropin; Time Factors

A young woman presented with acromegaly and amenorrhea-galactorrhea with hypersomatotropinemia and hyperprolactinemia. In addition, she had hypergastrinemia with abnormal secretory dynamics and evidence of a large pituitary tumor with suprasellar extension and erosion of the floor of the sella turcica. Evaluation of secretory diarrhea revealed a large abdominal tumor, which on removal was found to be a carcinoid of the jejunum. Postoperatively, the acromegaly, amenorrhea-galactorrhea, and hypergastrinemia resolved, and the pituitary returned to normal size, with regrowth of the sella floor. The carcinoid tumor was shown by immunoperoxidase staining to contain GH-releasing hormone.

Topics: Acromegaly; Adult; Amenorrhea; Carcinoid Tumor; Diarrhea; Female; Galactorrhea; Gastrins; Humans; Jejunal Neoplasms; Lactation Disorders; Paraneoplastic Endocrine Syndromes; Pituitary Gland; Pregnancy; Tomography, X-Ray Computed