Of the two known forms of intestinal somatostatin, somatostatin-28 (S28) and S14, S28 predominates in the distal mucosa, whereas S14 is localized in the foregut. Although S14 release has been well studied, little is known about the factors regulating secretion of S28 from the intestine. Therefore, fetal rat intestinal cultures, which have been previously demonstrated to synthesize and secrete predominantly S28, were treated with potential nutrient, neuromodulator/ transmitter, and peptide secretagogues (n ϭ 4 -6/experiment). Oleic acid dose dependently stimulated the release of somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI) to 272 Ϯ 81% of the control value at 1.5 ϫ 10 Ϫ4 M (P Ͻ 0.01). Gel permeation analysis (n ϭ 3) demonstrated that this increment was accounted for not only by an increase in the release of S28, but also by an increase in that of S14, such that the secretion of both peptides was increased in parallel. Of the neuromodulators tested, only the enteric peptide gastrin-releasing peptide stimulated intestinal SLI secretion, to 386 Ϯ 60% of the control value at 10 Ϫ6 M (P Ͻ 0.001); similar to oleic acid, the effects on S28 and S14 were equivalent. Galanin, vasoactive intestinal peptide, bethanechol, and epinephrine did not affect SLI release. The duodenal hormone secretin also stimulated SLI release to 310 Ϯ 78% of the control value at 10 Ϫ6 M (P Ͻ 0.001); however, secretin caused a preferential release of S14 over that of S28 (S14, 7.8 Ϯ 2.8-fold; S28, 1.5 Ϯ 0.1-fold). In contrast, gastrin, cholecystokinin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide, neurotensin, peptide YY, epidermal growth factor, and transforming growth factor-␣ had no effect on intestinal SLI release. Thus, luminal nutrients and neuro/endocrine peptides exert differential effects on S28 release from the rat intestine compared with those on S14. These findings implicate S28 as a distinct regulatory peptide in the physiological setting. (Endocrinology 139: 148 -155, 1998) A LTHOUGH widely distributed in the brain, pancreas, and peripheral autonomic nervous system, the gastrointestinal tract provides the largest source of somatostatin in the periphery (1-3). Within the gastrointestinal tract, differential posttranslational processing of prosomatostatin generates two major biologically active peptides, somatostatin-14 (S14) and S28, the distribution of which forms a gradient along the aboral axis. In the mucosa of the stomach and duodenum, S14 is the major product of processing, whereas S28 predominates in the D cells of the distal jejunum and ileum (1-4). S14 is also distributed throughout the length of the small intestine within the myenteric plexi. Both peptides have potent inhibitory effects on digestive functions, including gastric and pancreatic exocrine secretion, neuro/endocrine peptide release, and intestinal growth (5). Of particular note are studies suggesting that S28, rather than S14, may be the physiological regulator of postprandial insulin secretion in humans (6, 7). Although regulation of S14 secretion from the st...