Intra-articular injection of somatostatin in knee osteoarthritis: clinical results and IGF-1 serum levels

Recently somatostatin (SST) intra-articular administration has been used in the treatment of some rheumatoid diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis with encouraging results. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of SST intra-articularly injected, involving 20 patients with knee osteoarthritis. Treatment consisted of 4 injections, administered weekly, each of 750 mcg SST. Additionally, in six of them we evaluated the circulating levels of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 at the base-line time and then every 7 days (immediately before each dose of SST). The results revealed an improvement in pain and in joint function after intra-articular SST, confirmed by statistical analysis. The circulating levels of IGF-1 did not show significant variations following intra-articular administration of SST. The excellent tolerability and the absence of unwanted side-effects with SST allow us to foresee that intra-articular SST could be used in cases of painful knee osteoarthritis, especially in those patients in which other drugs are not appropriate. Moreover, in the absence of modifications of serum levels of IGF-1, SST could be used in athletes.