Octreotide inhibits insulin-like growth factor-I hepatic gene expression in the hypophysectomized rat: evidence for a direct and indirect mechanism of action.

Somatostatin and somatostatin analogs are known to interact with the GH-insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I axis by inhibiting GH secretion and consequently hepatic IGF-I production. Indirect evidence suggests that octreotide, a somatostatin analog, reduces serum IGF-I levels relatively more than expected from GH reduction, implying a GH-independent pathway of action. To study the role of octreotide in the regulation of IGF-I production, independently of endogenous GH, we used the hypophysectomized (hypox) rat to measure hepatic IGF-I expression and also employed cultured rat hepatocytes to examine whether octreotide has any direct effect on the production of IGF-I. Forty male hypox Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into 4 groups to receive daily injections for 3 days of either saline, human GH (hGH) (100 g), octreotide (100 g twice), or both hGH (100 g) and octreotide (100 g twice). GH stimulated serum IGF-I levels to 104 +/- 10 micrograms/liter as compared to saline (26 +/- 2 micrograms/liter). Octreotide alone had no effect, but combining octreotide and hGH significantly reduced the hGH-induced rise in the IGF-I levels (52 +/- 6 micrograms/liter). The relative expression of hepatic IGF-I in the rats treated with hGH increased by 4-fold compared to that in the saline-treated rats. Octreotide administered simultaneously with hGH potently blocked the hGH-induced IGF-I expression to control levels. In cultured hepatocytes, IGF-I mRNA levels maximally stimulated by combining bGH and glucagon were significantly inhibited in the presence of octreotide at low concentrations (0.3 and 3 ng/ml) by 25% and 45%, respectively. In contrast, high concentrations of octreotide (30 and 300 ng/ml) had no significant effect on IGF-I mRNA abundance. We conclude that: 1) octreotide inhibits IGF-I serum levels and hepatic gene expression in the hypox rat; and 2) octreotide can inhibit partially the direct effects of GH and glucagon on hepatic IGF-I production.