Objective: It has been established in animals that somatostatin (SST) is released from pain-activated sensory nerve endings and exerts systemic antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory actions. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes of SST-like immunoreactivity (SST-LI) in human serum before, immediately after and 2 h after surgical operations.
Methods: 25 patients were enrolled in the study. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, abdominal wall hernia or inguinal hernia operations were performed under combined anesthesia. A 5-ml blood sample was drawn from each patient, the blood was centrifuged and the serum frozen. SST-LI was determined from the defrosted samples by radioimmunoassay.
Results: Abdominal surgical operationsinduced a significant increase of SST-LI in the serum. 2 h later it was restored in the cases of laparoscopic interventions but still remained elevated after hernia surgeries.
Conclusions: In this human study we showed for the first time that surgical interventions elevate the endogenous SST-LI in human serum. It is assumed that the released SST is derived from the activated sensory nerves. Since antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of neural SST have already been established in laboratory animals, we presume that this endogenous protective mechanism also operates in humans.
2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.