somatostatin

somatostatin, polypeptide that inhibits the activity of certain pancreatic and gastrointestinal hormones. Somatostatin exists in two forms: one composed of 14 amino acids and a second composed of 28 amino acids. The name somatostatin, essentially meaning stagnation of a body, was coined when investigators found that an extract of hypothalamic tissues inhibited the release of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. Somatostatin subsequently was found to be widely distributed throughout the central nervous system and...