Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P20366 (substance P)
 21,176 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Repeated episodes of cerebral hypoxia-ischemia can cause primarily striatal neuronal loss in the developing brain. We investigated the effect of repeated episodes of asphyxia on specific neuronal sub-populations of the basal ganglia in late-gestation fetal sheep. Asphyxia was induced in 10 fetal sheep (118-126 days gestation) by occluding the umbilical cord for 5 min. This procedure was repeated four times at 30 min intervals and the brains were fixed 3 days later for histopathology. Immunohistochemical markers were used to identify various populations of neurons in the striatum. Antibodies to calbindin were used to stain the GABAergic medium-sized striatal projection neurons and antibodies to somatostatin and parvalbumin to identify striatal interneurons. Striatal projection neurons to the globus pallidus were recognized by enkephalin immunoreactivity, while the striatonigral terminals were identified in the substantia nigra pars reticulata by substance P immunohistochemical labelling. The results showed a marked loss of calbindin staining in the striatum, evident by both reduced cell numbers and a decrease in neuropil staining. The number of parvalbumin immunoreactive cells was also reduced in the striatum, while somatostatin interneurons were selectively preserved. In addition, immunostaining for enkephalin in the globus pallidus and for substance P in the substantia nigra was markedly reduced. These results show that the stiatal GABAergic medium-sized projection neurons are severely affected by recurrent episodes of asphyxia. These findings are confirmed and extended by the results demonstrating that both the enkephalin/GABA striatopallidal and the substance P/GABA stiatonigral pathways are affected. The results of this study therefore suggest that the efferent striatal projections to the globus pallidus and to the substantia nigra may be involved in asphyxial episodes resulting in cerebral palsy.
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PMID:Repeated asphyxia causes loss of striatal projection neurons in the fetal sheep brain. 760 81

There has been little exploration of major biologic regulators of cerebral development in autism. In archived neonatal blood of children with autistic spectrum disorders (n = 69), mental retardation without autism (n = 60), or cerebral palsy (CP, n = 63) and of control children (n = 54), we used recycling immunoaffinity chromatography to measure the neuropeptides substance P (SP), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), and the neurotrophins nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin 3 (NT3), and neurotrophin 4/5 (NT4/5). Neonatal concentrations of VIP, CGRP, BDNF, and NT4/5 were higher (ANOVA, all p values < 0.0001 by Scheffe test for pairwise differences) in children in the autistic spectrum and in those with mental retardation without autism than in control children. In 99% of children with autism and 97% with mental retardation, levels of at least one of these substances exceeded those of all control children. Concentrations were similar in subgroups of the autistic spectrum (core syndrome with or without mental retardation, other autistic spectrum disorders with or without mental retardation) and in the presence or absence of a history of regression. Among children with mental retardation, concentrations did not differ by severity or known cause (n = 11, including 4 with Down syndrome). Concentrations of measured substances were similar in children with CP as compared with control subjects. SP, PACAP, NGF, and NT3 were not different by diagnostic group. No measured analyte distinguished children with autism from children with mental retardation alone. In autism and in a heterogeneous group of disorders of cognitive function, overexpression of certain neuropeptides and neurotrophins was observed in peripheral blood drawn in the first days of life.
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PMID:Neuropeptides and neurotrophins in neonatal blood of children with autism or mental retardation. 1135 50

Excitotoxic damage appears to be a critical factor in the formation of perinatal brain lesions associated with cerebral palsy (CP). When injected into newborn mice, the glutamatergic analogue, ibotenate, produces cortical lesions and white matter cysts that mimic human perinatal brain lesions. Neuropeptides are neuronal activity modulators and could therefore modulate glutamate-induced lesions. However, neuropeptides are rapidly degraded by peptidases. Racecadotril, which is rapidly metabolized to its active metabolite thiorphan, is a neutral endopeptidase (NEP) inhibitor used in clinical practice for diarrhoea with a remarkable safety profile. This study aimed to test the original hypothesis that thiorphan could be neuroprotective against ibotenate-induced lesions in newborn mice. Intraperitoneal administration of thiorphan reduced ibotenate-induced cortical lesions by up to 57% and cortical caspase-3 cleavage by up to 59%. This neuroprotective effect was long-lasting and was still observed when thiorphan was administered 12 h after the insult, showing a remarkable window for therapeutic intervention. Further supporting the neuroprotective effect of pharmacological blockade of NEP, mouse pups with a genetic deletion of NEP displayed a significantly reduced size of the ibotenate-induced cortical grey matter lesion when compared with wild-type animals. Thiorphan effects were mimicked by substance P (SP) and, in a less potent manner, by neurokinin A. Thiorphan effects were inhibited by blockers of NK1 and NK2 receptors. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, autoradiography and immunohistochemistry confirmed the expression of NK1 and NK2 receptors in the neonatal murine neocortex. These data demonstrate that thiorphan prevents neonatal excitotoxic cortical damage, an effect largely mediated by SP. Thiorphan could represent a promising drug for the prevention of CP, which remains a challenging disease. In a broader context, these results also raise potential implications for the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases involving glutamate-mediated excitotoxic neuronal death.
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PMID:Thiorphan, a neutral endopeptidase inhibitor used for diarrhoea, is neuroprotective in newborn mice. 1702 11