Effect of somatostatin on platelet aggregation and plasma factor VIII level in normal man.

As impairment in coagulation and platelet function has been reported following acute administration of somatostatin, a reevaluation of the effects of the cyclic and linear form of the peptide was undertaken. In vitro somatostatin had no effect by itself on platelet aggregation and no effect on ADP- or ristocetin-induced aggregation. In vivo ten healthy men infused with cyclic or linear somatostatin (loading dose of 250 microgram and three hour-infusion with 1,500 microgram) and five control subjects were investigated during the infusion and for three hours after the end of the infusion. With this dose, sufficient in man for maintaining plasma growth hormone and insulin at fasting levels under arginine stimulation, no abnormalities in platelet count, in ADP-induced platelet aggregation and in plasma VIII von Willebrand factor, factor VIII procoagulant activity and factor VIII related antigen levels were observed.