Quantification and characterization of enkephalins in the upper part of the cat digestive tract and the coeliac ganglia

Distribution of enkephalin-like immunoreactivity in the cat digestive tract

Immunohistochemical investigations were carried out to determine the pattern of distribution of methionine- and leucine-enkephalin-like materials in the cat pylorus, duodenum, ileum and proximal and distal colon. The present results indicate that leucine-enkephalin-like materials are less densely distributed than methionine-enkephalin-like materials, but that the two patterns of distribution show some similarities. Considerable regional differences exist however in the distribution of these enkephalin-like materials in the muscular layers. In the duodenum, ileum and proximal colon, the immunoreactivity was mainly confined to the myenteric plexus and the circular muscle layer, where it was present in nerve cell bodies and in numerous fibres. In the longitudinal muscle and submucous layers, a few immunoreactive fibres were observed which sometimes surrounded blood vessels. In the pylorus and the distal colon, however, numerous immunoreactive fibres were observed in the longitudinal and circular muscle layers; the immunoreactivity was detected in the cell bodies of numerous myenteric plexus neurons but those of only a few submucous plexus neurons. In addition, the pylorus tissues contained immunoreactive plexi which were localized either within the longitudinal muscle or between the serosa and the longitudinal muscle layer. These plexi were connected to the myenteric plexus by immunoreactive nerve strands. In all the small intestinal segments studied, numerous immunoreactive varicosities were present in the deep muscular plexus, in the inner part of the circular muscle layer. Our results suggest that in cats, the nervous control of external muscular layers mediated by enkephalins shows regional differences. In the pylorus and the distal colon, it involves both the longitudinal and circular muscle layers, whereas in other intestinal segments, only the circular muscle layer is involved.

Distribution of enkephalin immunoreactivity in sympathetic prevertebral ganglia and digestive tract of guinea-pigs and rats

The aim of the present study was to determine the distribution of methionine-enkephalin (ME) and leucine-enkephalin (LE) immunoreactivity in the sympathetic prevertebral ganglia (coeliac plexus and inferior mesenteric ganglion) and in the myenteric plexus-muscular layer complex of the digestive tract in guinea-pigs and rats. This study was performed using the same immunological approaches including radioimmunoassays and HPLC characterization as those used previously on cats in order to be able to make inter-region and inter-species comparisons. In rat and guinea-pig prevertebral ganglia, the distributions of the enkephalin immunoreactivities were comparable and were characterized by a low ME/LE concentration ratio, of less than 1. In the digestive tract of rats, the enkephalin immunoreactivities were homogeneously distributed, whereas in guinea-pigs, they were found to be very low in the lower oesophageal sphincter and high in the duodenum. In both species, the ME/LE concentration ratio was around 2. The ME/LE concentration ratio determined in the present study in peripheral nervous structures was much lower than that determined previously in the rat brain. Radioimmunoassay and biochemical data might indicate that different mechanisms are responsible for the processing and/or degradation of enkephalins in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The present study provides further evidences that there are tissue- and species-dependent differences in the distribution of enkephalin immunoreactivities. These differences should be taken into consideration when dealing with the effects and the role of enkephalins in the nervous control of intestinal motility in mammals.

An immunoelectron microscopic study of methionine-enkephalin structures in cat prevertebral ganglia

Methionine-enkephalin-like immunoreactivity was detected in presynaptic nerve fibers and SIF cells in cat prevertebral ganglia. The immunoreactive nerve fibers contained a mixture of numerous small clear vesicles and a few large vesicles; the immunoreactivity was only confined to the large vesicles. Most of the immunoreactive fibers were in apposition with non-immunoreactive neuronal profiles, without any detectable synaptic membrane specializations. The other immunoreactive fibers formed synaptic contacts mainly with non-immunostained dendrites and to a lesser extent with axons and neuronal soma. The characterization at the ultrastructural level of the enkephalin-like immunoreactive structures is discussed as regards the modalities whereby opiates may be involved in sympathetic ganglionic transmission.

Purification and characterization of enkephalin-related peptides released by in vitro peptic digestion of bovine plasma proteins

In vitro pepsin treatment of plasma proteins generates biologically active peptides such as enkephalin-related peptides. These peptides were characterized using chromatographic techniques along with a radioimmunoassay procedure involving the use of Leu-enkephalin and Met-enkephalin antisera. Serum albumin is the only existing source of Met-enkephalin-immunoreactive peptides. One of these peptides consists of nine residues with the sequence NH2-Glu-Lys-Leu-Gly-Glu-Tyr-Gly-Phe-Gln; a second immunoreactive peptide might be the hexapeptide NH2-Gly-Glu-Tyr-Gly-Phe-Gln, which has been already identified in a rat serum albumin hydrolysate. Our results indicate that immunoglobulins constitute the main source of Leu-enkephalin-immunoreactive peptides. Immunoreactive NH2-Tyr-Phe-Leu was isolated from pepsin-treated bovine immunoglobulins. Binding experiments and cyclic nucleotide measurements suggested that this peptide was an enkephalin-related peptide. Similar experiments could be carried out to identify the proteins that contain enkephalin-like peptide sequences with the view to investigating the various biological processes occurring in enzymatically treated proteins.

Changes in enkephalin immunoreactivity of sympathetic ganglia and digestive tract of the cat after splanchnic nerve ligation

The aim of the present study was to analyze changes in the enkephalin immunoreactivity of sympathetic prevertebral ganglia coeliac plexus and inferior mesenteric ganglion) and intestinal tract (myenteric plexus and external muscle layers) in cats 2 days after left thoracic splanchnic nerve ligation, using radioimmunoassay and immunohistochemical techniques. Specific polyclonal antibodies directed against methionine- and leucine-enkephalin were used. The nerve ligation led to a considerable increase in the enkephalin immunoreactivity in the cranial part of the ligated nerves. This finding confirms the presence, in the cat, of an enkephalin output originating from thoracic spinal structures which are probably enkephalin-containing preganglionic neurons. In prevertebral ganglia the nerve ligation induced a marked decrease in the enkephalin immunoreactivity, which was probably due to the interruption of thoracic enkephalin efferents projecting towards both the coeliac plexus and the inferior mesenteric ganglion. In the digestive tract, the nerve ligation depressed the methionine-enkephalin immunoreactivity only in the gastro-duodenal region, and had no effect on the ileo-colonic region. The results of the present study add to the growing evidence that the sympathetic nervous system is involved in regulating the enteric enkephalinergic innervation, which is probably involved in controlling the intestinal motility.

Enkephalin-containing neurons in the inferior mesenteric ganglion projecting to the distal colon of cat: evidence from combined retrograde tracing by fluorescent microspheres and immunohistochemistry

Retrograde tracing with rhodamine fluorescent microspheres combined with fluorescein immunolabelling of methionine-enkephalin showed the presence of enkephalin-like material in neurons of the inferior mesenteric ganglion (sympathetic prevertebral ganglion) projecting to the distal colon in cat. Two weeks after injecting the microspheres into the wall of the distal colon, the inferior mesenteric ganglion was dissected out and incubated for 24 hours in a colchicine-containing culture medium in order to facilitate the detection of enkephalins in the soma of ganglion neurons. It was observed that retrogradely labelled ganglion cells contained enkephalin-like immunoreactive material. These ganglion cells corresponded to enkephalin-like postganglionic neurons, the terminals of which were located inside the wall of the distal colon. These enkephalin-like neurons were numerous and scattered throughout the ganglion. Sometimes enkephalin-like immunoreactive fibers, probably originating from spinal preganglionic neurons, ran close to immunoreactive and non-immunoreactive retrogradely labelled ganglion cells. This suggests that enkephalin-like immunoreactive fibers may make synaptic connections with enkephalin-like and non-enkephalin-like postganglionic neurons projecting to the distal colon. The present study establishes for the first time the existence of an enkephalin-like postganglionic pathway to the digestive tract originating from a sympathetic prevertebral ganglion. This finding indicates that the enkephalinergic innervation of the cat digestive tract may have at least two possible sources: (i) the sympathetic prevertebral ganglia; and (ii) the enteric nervous ganglia.

Chronic naltrexone treatment of rats: effects on gastrointestinal opioid peptide content

The gastrointestinal tract contains immunoreactive enkephalins and beta-endorphin. The objective of the current study was to determine whether chronic treatment of rats with naltrexone altered the gastrointestinal tissue content of these opioid peptides. Opioid activity measured by radioreceptor assay was detectable throughout the gastrointestinal tract. There were regional differences in the [Met5]enkephalin: [Leu5]enkephalin-immunoreactivity (IR) ratios, possibly due to cell specific differential processing of precursor molecules or degradation of the peptides. Chronic naltrexone treatment increased opioid activity in the duodenum and jejunum, decreased [Met5]enkephalin-IR in the duodenum and [Leu5]enkephalin-IR in the gastric corpus, and increased beta-endorphin-IR in the duodenum. However, the changes were small, and it is unlikely that any functional changes resulting from naltrexone treatment can be reliably ascribed to such changes in tissue content.

The proenkephalin-A-derivative Met-enkephalin-Arg-Gly-Leu is not present in the feline species

No opioid octapeptide Met-enkephalin-Arg-Gly-Leu was detected either in the brain or in the adrenal gland of the cat using a specific radioimmunoassay. Whereas it was possible to determine the Met-enkephalin and Leu-enkephalin contents. The Met-enkephalin versus Leu-enkephalin concentration ratio was around five in each area of the brain assayed. The presence of authentic Met-enkephalin and Leu-enkephalin was confirmed by high performance liquid chromatography analysis. All in all, these data seem to indicate that the cat proenkephalin is partly different from that previously analysed in mammalian species including humans, rats and cows.

Enkephalins in the inferior mesenteric ganglion of the cat and in the area of the lower digestive tract innervated by this ganglion: quantification by radio-immunoassay and characterization by high pressure liquid chromatography

Met-enkephalin, Leu-enkephalin and Met-enkephalin-Arg-Gly-Leu were quantified and characterized in the cat inferior mesenteric ganglion and in the area of the lower digestive tract innervated by this ganglion, including the proximal colon, distal colon and internal anal sphincter. In the structures studied, the concentrations of enkephalins expressed as femtomole/mg of wet tissue ranged from 66 to 160 with Met-enkephalin, from 15 to 45 with Leu-enkephalin and from 2 to 12 for Met-enkephalin-arg-gly-leu. In the lower digestive tract, the Met- and Leu-enkephalin content decreased from the proximal colon to the internal anal sphincter. The Met-enkephalin versus Leu-enkephalin ratio of the structures investigated were as follows: inferior mesenteric ganglion 3.2, proximal colon 4.4, distal colon 5, internal and sphincter 4.5. In individual samples of all the structures assayed the results of high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis pointed to the presence of authentic Met- and Leu-enkephalin. HPLC analysis could not be carried out on Met-enkephalin-Arg-Gly-Leu due to the very low concentrations of this peptide in all the structures assayed. Our results, combined with those of previous immunohistochemical and physiological studies, support the idea that enkephalins are involved in the nervous control of the motility of the lower digestive tract.