Effects of intra-arterially infused adenosine triphosphate (ATP) on release of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) from the gastrointestinal tract of the cat

Recent advances in vasoactive intestinal peptide physiology and pathophysiology: focus on the gastrointestinal system

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), a gut peptide hormone originally reported as a vasodilator in 1970, has multiple physiological and pathological effects on development, growth, and the control of neuronal, epithelial, and endocrine cell functions that in turn regulate ion secretion, nutrient absorption, gut motility, glycemic control, carcinogenesis, immune responses, and circadian rhythms. Genetic ablation of this peptide and its receptors in mice also provides new insights into the contribution of VIP towards physiological signaling and the pathogenesis of related diseases. Here, we discuss the impact of VIP on gastrointestinal function and diseases based on recent findings, also providing insight into its possible therapeutic application to diabetes, autoimmune diseases and cancer.

Purinergic signaling and blood vessels in health and disease

Purinergic signaling plays important roles in control of vascular tone and remodeling. There is dual control of vascular tone by ATP released as a cotransmitter with noradrenaline from perivascular sympathetic nerves to cause vasoconstriction via P2X1 receptors, whereas ATP released from endothelial cells in response to changes in blood flow (producing shear stress) or hypoxia acts on P2X and P2Y receptors on endothelial cells to produce nitric oxide and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor, which dilates vessels. ATP is also released from sensory-motor nerves during antidromic reflex activity to produce relaxation of some blood vessels. In this review, we stress the differences in neural and endothelial factors in purinergic control of different blood vessels. The long-term (trophic) actions of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides and nucleotides in promoting migration and proliferation of both vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells via P1 and P2Y receptors during angiogenesis and vessel remodeling during restenosis after angioplasty are described. The pathophysiology of blood vessels and therapeutic potential of purinergic agents in diseases, including hypertension, atherosclerosis, ischemia, thrombosis and stroke, diabetes, and migraine, is discussed.

Stimulation by nicotine of enteric inhibitory nerves and release of vasoactive intestinal peptide in the taenia of the guinea-pig caecum

The stimulation by nicotine of intramural nerves and the role of ATP and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) as inhibitory transmitters were studied in the isolated taenia of the guinea-pig caecum. Nicotine (4-32 microM) caused transient, concentration-dependent relaxations which were unaffected by atropine, prazosin or sotalol. Drugs with membrane-stabilizing activity, such as dl-propranolol (0.5 microM), d-propranolol (0.5 microM) or lidocaine (10 microM) antagonized the nicotine-induced relaxation without modifying the response to electrical field stimulation. Similar results were obtained with the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin (2.8 microM). Nucleotide pyrophosphatase (0.5 U/ml), which hydrolyzes ATP to AMP, reversibly inhibited the response to nicotine but the response to field stimulation was not decreased. Nicotine evoked a calcium-dependent release of VIP, which was blocked by tetrodotoxin (1 microM), d-propranolol (0.5 microM) or, as previously shown, by apamin (0.2 microM). The finding that nicotine-induced relaxation was accompanied by the neuronal release of VIP is compatible with the possibility that VIP is an inhibitory transmitter but is not definitive evidence, since it could have been due to the stimulation of distinct populations of nerves by nicotine.