Non-medical use of somatotropin
The non-medical use of somatotropin is becoming increasingly popular in Germany. The target groups vary greatly depending on the desired effect. The non-medical benefits of Somatotropin have long since ceased to be of interest only to bodybuilders.
Muscle building is only one of the desired effects of the hormone. A particularly large target group now includes middle-aged women and, in some cases, middle-aged men who use somatotropin in globule form for weight loss and anti-aging. Somatotropin globules can be purchased for a lot of money on numerous websites on the Internet, along with instructions on how to take them. There is no scientific proof of the globules’ effect. The active ingredient has been diluted to a “homeopathic dose” in many steps during production, so that it can no longer be proven.
Somatotropin as insulin antagonist
In body cells, for example in muscle, bone or fatty tissue, somatotropin has an opposite effect to insulin. Somatotropin is therefore also known as an insulin antagonist. This effect works by somatotropin binding to the somatotropin receptor on the target cells and causing another protein, insulin-like growth factor, to be produced.Insulin is also considered a growth factor, which has a so-called “anabolic” effect on the body’s cells, which means “anabolic”. Because of these properties, insulin is also used together with somatotropin and the somatomedins as an anabolic agent that promotes muscle growth.
Somatostatin as the antagonist of somatotropin
Somatostatin, like somatotropin, is a water-soluble peptide hormone composed of several amino acids. In contrast to somatotropin, it is not produced in the pituitary gland, but partly in the pancreas and partly by the hypothalamus. As the name suggests, somatostatin is functionally the exact opposite of somatotropin.
However, it also has important functions in the regulation of digestive hormones in the gastrointestinal tract. It inhibits a long list of hormones in their function. In the digestive system, the main effect is to stop the production of gastric acid, restrict intestinal motility and reduce the amount of digestive juices.
Above all, somatostatin directly at the pituitary gland inhibits the release of somatotropin. An increased somatostatin level thus causes the long-term consequences of a somatotropin deficiency. In addition, somatostatin at the pancreas itself simultaneously inhibits the release of insulin and glucagon.
This also corresponds to the exactly opposite effects of somatotropin and causes a reduction in blood sugar levels. Artificial somatostatin can also be used medically and therapeutically. It has a supportive function in the treatment of inflammation of the stomach and pancreas. Here it acts gently on the stomach and intestinal mucosa by reducing the production of the sometimes aggressive gastric and digestive juices.
