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

1. During heat exposure, rats secrete large amounts of saliva. Salivation started when body temperature exceeded 39 degrees C and was reduced by kininogen deficiency or by HOE 140, a bradykinin antagonist. This secretory response was associated with a partial depletion of glandular kallikrein from the submaxillary glands. The depletion was abolished by simultaneous treatment of the animals with an alpha- and a beta-adrenergic antagonist. During heat exposure, plasma levels of kininogens were reduced. 2. Pilocarpine and substance P induced a similar flow of saliva in normal and kininogen-deficient rats and released low amounts of kallikrein from salivary glands. Phenylephrine and isoproterenol induced a larger flow of saliva in normal rats than in kininogen-deficient rats. Both agents released large amounts of kallikrein in saliva but isoproterenol was only active at large doses. 3. During heat exposure, the blood content of submaxillary glands in normal as well as in kininogen-deficient rats increased as a function of the ambient temperature. This increase was suppressed by atropine and NG-nitro-L-arginine, a NO-synthase inhibitor, but was not modified by HOE 140. Simultaneously, a swelling of the glands and of the surrounding soft tissues occurred in normal but not in kininogen-deficient rats. Kallikrein was present in the edema fluid. 4. The kallikrein-kinin system would thus participate in heat-induced salivary secretion and kinins may be a factor responsible for electrolyte and water exchanges in the glands.
 ...
PMID:Involvement of the kallikrein-kinin system in the salivary secretion elicited in rats by heat stress. 753 74

The evidence for the integration of the submandibular gland (SMG) into the neuroimmunoregulatory network has been reviewed. In laboratory rodents, factors extracted from the SMG were shown to stimulate lymphocyte proliferation, to affect the weight of the thymus, spleen and lymph nodes and to induce immunosuppression in several in vivo animal models. The SMG produces significant quantities of nerve growth factor (NGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor-beta and kallikreins, which are secreted into the saliva and affect immune and mucosal tissues and nerve endings in the gastrointestinal tract. These factors play a role in regulating mucosal immuno/inflammatory response and in regeneration and healing. The major salivary glands also produce antimicrobial proteins and secretory IgA antibodies which are essential factors in mucosal host defense. SMG-derived NGF, EGF and glandular kallikrein are delivered into the bloodstream where they may act as important systemic immunoregulators and also have major regulatory influences on the central neuroendocrine system. There is evidence to indicate that EGF is involved in the regulation of gonadal function. Growth hormone, prolactin, androgens, thyroid hormone and corticosteroids regulate protein synthesis in the SMG, whereas secretory activity is regulated by sympathetic (alpha- and beta-adrenergic) parasympathetic (muscarinic) and peptidergic (substance P and vasoactive intestinal peptide) nerve fibers. Fluid and electrolyte secretion is promoted by parasympathetic, whereas protein secretion is stimulated by sympathetic nerve impulses. Steroid hormones and cytokines (interleukin-1 alpha, -beta, tumor necrosis factor, interferon-gamma) have a major regulatory influence on protein secretion, including the secretion of immunoglobulin into the saliva. The SMG interacts with the mucosal and systemic compartments of the immune system, with the central and peripheral nervous systems, with the pituitary gland, and with peripheral endocrine organs. These interactions enable the SMG to exert regulatory influences on immune/inflammatory reactions in the gastrointestinal tract, in the lungs, and possibly elsewhere. It is suggested that these functions make this gland a key regulatory organ in the neuroimmunoregulatory network. Evidence is increasing that the major salivary glands fulfill similar functions in other species, including humans.
 ...
PMID:The submandibular gland: a key organ in the neuro-immuno-regulatory network? 896 48