Substance P Regulates Somatostatin Expression in Inflammation

Substance P (SP) and somatostatin (SOM) are made at mucosal surfaces and sites of inflammation. There is a SP/SOM immunoregulatory circuit that modulates the IFN-γ response in murine schistosomiasis. SP enhances, while SOM decreases, IFN-γ secretion. Various inflammatory mediators induce macrophages to make SOM, but no known factor limits this expression. It was discovered that SP regulates SOM synthesis. Splenocytes from normal, uninfected mice cultured with LPS, IFN-γ, or IL-10 for 4 h strongly expressed SOM mRNA, but failed to do so in the presence of SP. The inhibition with 10−9 M SP was >85% shown by quantitative PCR. Also, splenocyte SOM content decreased from 1048 ± 275 to <10 pg/4 × 108 cells following SP exposure. Immunohistochemistry identified SOM solely within splenic macrophages following cytokine stimulation. Mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni form granulomas in the liver and intestines resulting from deposition of parasite eggs in these organs. The granulomas contain macrophages that make SOM constitutively. SP at 10−8 M decreased SOM mRNA expression >90% in dispersed granuloma cells cultured for 4 h or longer. Specific SP receptor antagonists blocked SP suppression of SOM expression in splenocytes and dispersed granuloma cells, showing that an authentic SP receptor mediated the regulation. Additional studies revealed that IL-4 antagonized the SP effect in the spleen. It is concluded that in granulomas and splenocytes from mice with schistosomiasis and in splenocytes from uninfected animals that 1) SP inhibits macrophage SOM induction and ongoing expression at the mRNA and protein levels acting through the SP receptor, and 2) IL-4 can antagonizes this SP effect.

Substance P (Neurokinin-1) Receptor Is a Marker of Human Mucosal But Not Peripheral Mononulear Cells: Molecular Quantitation and Localization

Reciprocal communication between the immune sytem and the neuroendocrine system is mediated via a common chemical language of shared ligands and receptors. The neuropeptide substance P (SP) has been implicated as a mediator of immunomodulation. The evidence for substance P receptors on human lymphocytes is, however, controversial. The aims of the present study are to investigate substance P receptor (SPR) expression in human peripheral and mucosal mononuclear cells and to identify cellular sites of expression in human colonic mucosa. Using reverse-transcriptase PCR, we demonstrate that PBMC isolations are negative for SPR mRNA expression, whereas lamina propria mononuclear cell (LPMC) isolations express on average eight SPR mRNA transcripts per cell. In situ hybridization performed on surgically resected colonic tissue confirms the expression of SPR mRNA in LPMC in vivo. SPR mRNA signal was detected in LPMC, lymphoid follicles, and epithelium. The complementary technique of immunohistochemistry gave a similar distribution of SPR expression that colocalized with CD45 immunoreactivity. Dual-fluorochrome flow cytometry revealed SPR expression by CD4, CD45RO, CD45RA, CD8, CD19, and CD14 LPMC subsets, but not PBMC. Our findings suggest that SPR expression is distinctive of human colonic mucosal mononuclear cells and support a direct role for SP in mucosal immunomodulation.