Somatastatin, dopamine and their receptors in pituitary pathophysiology

A review by Ferone et al. has summarised the novel insights developed in recent years into somatostatin and dopamine receptors in pituitary pathophysiology. The authors discuss recent advances that represent the possibility of new complex interactions that could be used in future treatment strategies for patients with pituitary adenomas.

Recent developments have suggested that the complex interactions between somatostatin, dopamine and their receptors involve dimerisation of these G-protein-coupled receptors. Accordingly new experimental drugs have been developed, including somatostatin analogues to bind multiple subtypes of somatostatin receptor and hybrid somatostatin–dopamine compounds, which are not targeted by current treatments.

These new drugs targeting a range of tumour receptors represent possible future treatment strategies for the significant number of patients with pituitary adenomas who are unresponsive to current drug treatments and also for treatment of other neuroendocrine tumours.

Ferone, D., Gatto, F., Arvigo, M., Resmini, E., Boschetti, M., Teti, C., Esposito, D., Minuto, F. Journal of Molecular Endocrinology 42: 5, 361-370 DOI: 10.1677/JME-08-0162