Somatostatin stimulates prostaglandin production by rat gastric epithelial cells in vitro, but is not cytoprotective.

Whether somatostatin stimulates prostaglandin synthesis by gastric cells is controversial. Also, it is unknown whether somatostatin protects gastric cells against exogenous injury in conditions independent of systemic factors and of inhibition of gastric acid secretion. The present study was undertaken (1) to evaluate the effect of somatostatin on prostaglandin production by rat gastric epithelial cells in monolayer culture and (2) to assess whether somatostatin protects gastric cells against taurocholate- and indomethacin-induced damage in vitro. Somatostatin at concentrations of 10(-5) M and 10(-4) M significantly stimulated PGE2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha production by rat gastric epithelial cells but was not able to prevent damage induced by sodium taurocholate and indomethacin to rat gastric cells in monolayer culture. These results suggest that: (1) somatostatin stimulates prostaglandin synthesis by cultured rat gastric epithelial cells, but (2) is not directly protective to rat gastric epithelial cell monolayers against drug-induced damage in vitro.