Effect of cysteamine on cytosolic somatostatin binding sites in rabbit duodenal mucosa.

Administration of cysteamine in rabbits elicited a rapid depletion of both duodenal mucosa and plasma somatostatin. A significant reduction was observed within 5 min, returning toward control values by 150 min. The depletion of somatostatin was associated with an increase in the binding capacity and a decrease in the affinity of both high- and low-affinity binding sites present in cytosol of duodenal mucosa. Incubation of cytosolic fraction from control rabbits with 1 mM cysteamine did not modify somatostatin binding. Furthermore, addition of cysteamine at the time of binding assay did not affect the integrity of 125I-Tyr11-somatostatin. It is concluded that in vivo administration of cysteamine to rabbits depletes both duodenal mucosa and plasma somatostatin and leads to up-regulation of duodenal somatostatin binding sites.