Octreotide and direct/indirect lung injury.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Lung injury is one of the most important diseases, which is accompanied by hypoxemia, organ failure, and a high mortality rate. There are several symptoms and causes of lung injuries. In the past years, special attention has been given to investigating the pathophysiology and the treatment of this disease. Octreotide, as an anti-inflammatory, anti-secretory, tissue-repairing, and anti-fibrotic drug, has been considered and administered for the treatment of lung injury. This review article considered the pharmacological effects of octreotide on physiopathological conditions in patients or animal models that have direct or indirect lung injury.

SEARCH STRATEGY AND FINDINGS

Keywords including "octreotide" OR "sandostatin" AND "lung injury" OR "ARDS" OR "respiratory distress" OR "lung fibrosis" were searched in the database of PubMed, and 44 articles were found. According to the direct or indirect lung injury, the articles were classified.

CONCLUSION

It appears that octreotide is a protective drug for the treatment of direct and indirect lung injuries, exhibiting anti-inflammatory, anti-hypersecretory, anti-fibrotic, and anti-neutrophil permeability effects, while also increasing endogenous antioxidants. However, there is still room for extensive research to fully clarify the effectiveness of octreotide for direct or indirect lung injury.