Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P61278 (somatostatin)
 22,083 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The distribution of somatostatin in the rat spinal cord was studied immunohistochemically with particular reference to the localization in the caudal centers that innervate the pelvic organs. For detailed studies of the laminar distribution of somatostatin the combination of immunohistochemistry and acetylcholinesterase enzyme histochemistry was employed. Deafferentation experiments were carried out to shed light on the origin of the somatostatin-containing axons. These experiments showed that the bulk of the spinal somatostatin has a spinal origin. The structures showing somatostatin immunoreactivity formed a distinct and detailed pattern. The marginal layer and particularly the substantia gelatinosa contained a dense immunoreactivity in terminallike structures. Such structures were also found in the reticular nucleus, along the medial border of the dorsal horn, and in the nucleus of the dorsolateral funiculus. In all of these regions somatostatin-positive cell bodies were also observed. In the intermediate gray matter stained terminals were present around the central canal in a varying number. The most prominent stainability was found in the lumbosacral transition zone. Many terminals were also observed in the sacral parasympathetic intermediolateral nucleus. In contrast, very few appeared in the sympathetic nuclei. Immunoreactive somata were present in the surroundings of the central canal at all levels. Moreover, positive neurons were found in the intermediolateral nucleus of the sacral cord. By combined retrograde tracing and immunohistochemistry the existence of somatostatin-containing parasympathetic visceromotoneurons was ascertained. Corresponding to this, somatostatin-positive terminals were seen in the major pelvic ganglion. The ventral horn generally contained few terminals, and the density was particularly low in the motoneuron neuropil. However, a dense somatostatin network was found in the sixth lumbar segment in relation to the neurons in Onuf's nucleus X complex, the nucleus that innervates the small pelvic muscles including the striated sphincters. It is concluded that somatostatin, besides being involved in the processing of sensory input, serves an important motor task, that of taking part in the complex control of the pelvic organs and their associated striated muscles.
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PMID:Somatostatin in the caudal spinal cord: an immunohistochemical study of the spinal centers involved in the innervation of pelvic organs. 614 9

In the present study we have employed immunoperoxidase techniques to investigate the distribution of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-like immunoreactivity in the spinal cord and sensory ganglia of the cat. The spinal distribution of VIP-containing neuronal processes was also compared with that of substance P (SP), somatostatin (SOM), and cholecystokinin-8 (CCK) at lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal levels. At sacral levels, VIP was found to be contained in small and medium-sized primary sensory neurons and in dorsal rootlets. Deafferentation, by either ganglionectomy or dorsal rhizotomy, resulted in a nearly complete loss of VIP immunoreactivity in the spinal cord. The spinal distribution of VIP fibers and terminals was most dense and extensive in sacral segments. Forming a thin shell around the dorsal horn, collaterals, apparently originating from Lissauer's tract, projected either medially or laterally through lamina I. Laterally, many VIP axons terminated in lateral laminae V to VII. Others projected further through the neck of the dorsal horn to medial lamina V and the gray matter near the central canal. Medially, VIP axons descended through lamina I to expand into terminal fields in the posterior commissure and medial lamina V. At the ultrastructural level, VIP-like immunoreactivity was found in dense core vesicles within axonal enlargements containing both large dense core and smaller clear round vesicles. Synaptic connections were infrequently observed but, when encountered, were of the simple axodendritic type. The spinal distribution of VIP-containing fibers was remarkably similar to that reported for pelvic nerve visceral afferents, both in termination patterns within the spinal gray matter and in localization to the sacral cord. The density of SP-, SOM-, and CCK-containing fibers and terminals was constant at all levels examined (L4 to Co4). In marked contrast, the distribution of VIP fibers, much like that of pelvic nerve afferents, was mostly confined to sacral segments. Thus, although SP, SOM, and CCK may be contained within a population of sacral visceral afferents, they must be common to afferent systems in other segments as well. VIP, however, appears to be preferentially contained within pelvic visceral afferent fibers confined mostly to sacral segments.
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PMID:Preferential immunohistochemical localization of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) in the sacral spinal cord of the cat: light and electron microscopic observations. 619 17

The effect of deafferentation on the neuropeptides substance P (SP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), somatostatin (SS), and cholecystokinin (CCK) in the lumbar dorsal horn of the adult rat was examined by the indirect immunohistochemical method. Deafferentation was induced by injecting the sciatic nerve of anesthetized rats with proteolytic enzymes (20 mg pronase), which cause selective death of the nerve's ganglion cells and degeneration of their terminal arborization in the spinal cord. The density of immunolabel of each peptide was determined by using a computerized densitometry analysis system in two animal groups, i.e., short-term (10-13 days after injection) and long-term (4-9 months). In both groups, the deafferentation produced a significant ipsilateral depletion of CGRP, SP, CCK, and SS immunoreactivity. This depletion was limited to the area occupied by the sciatic terminals in the dorsal horn. In the long-term group, the loss of CGRP and SP staining was significantly less than that in the short-term animals, thus indicating partial recovery. A similar, but not statistically significant, trend was observed for CCK and SS. The large decrease in CGRP and SP seen in short-term animals reflects the large contribution of the sciatic nerve to the lumbar dorsal horn. The partial recovery of peptides demonstrates the plasticity of the nervous system and may parallel sprouting of primary afferents from other nerves, such as the saphenous nerve, as we have demonstrated in previous studies.
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PMID:Deafferentation-induced changes in neuropeptides of the adult rat dorsal horn following pronase injection of the sciatic nerve. 750 99