Microglial cells are responsible for immune surveillance within the CNS. They respond to noxious stimuli by releasing inflammatory mediators and mounting an effective inflammatory response. This is followed by release of anti-inflammatory mediators and resolution of the inflammatory response. Alterations to this delicate process may lead to tissue damage, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration. Chronic pain, such as inflammatory or neuropathic pain, is accompanied by neuroimmune activation, and the role of glial cells in the initiation and maintenance of chronic pain has been the subject of increasing research over the last two decades. Neuropeptides are small amino acidic molecules with the ability to regulate neuronal activity and thereby affect various functions such as thermoregulation, reproductive behavior, food and water intake, and circadian rhythms. Neuropeptides can also affect inflammatory responses and pain sensitivity by modulating the activity of glial cells. The last decade has witnessed growing interest in the study of microglial activation and its modulation by neuropeptides in the hope of developing new therapeutics for treating neurodegenerative diseases and chronic pain. This review summarizes the current literature on the way in which several neuropeptides modulate microglial activity and response to tissue damage and how this modulation may affect pain sensitivity.
Nitric oxide synthase-containing cells were visualized in the anterior pituitary gland by immunocytochemistry. Consequently, we began an evaluation of the possible role of NO in the control of anterior pituitary function.Prolactin is normally under inhibitory hypothalamic control, and in vitro the gland secretes large quantities of the hormone. When hemipituitaries were incubated for 30 min in the presence of sodium nitroprusside, a releaser of NO, prolactin release was inhibited. This suppression was completely blocked by the scavenger of NO, hemoglobin. Analogs of arginine, such as NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (NMMA, where NG is the terminal guanidino nitrogen) and nitroarginine methyl ester, inhibit NO synthase. Incubation of hemipituitaries with either of these compounds significantly increased prolactin release. Since in other tissues most of the actions of NO are mediated by activation of soluble guanylate cyclase with the formation of cyclic GMP, we evaluated the effects of cyclic GMP on prolactin release. Cyclic GMP (10 mM) produced an "40%o reduction in prolactin release. Prolactin release in vivo and in vitro can be stimulated by several peptides, which include vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and substance P. Consequently, we evaluated the possible role of NO in these stimulations by incubating the glands in the presence of either of these peptides alone or in combination with NMMA. In the case of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, the significant stimulation of prolactin release was augmented by NMMA to give an additive effect. In the case of substance P, there was a smaller but significant release of prolactin that was not significantly augmented by NMMA. We conclude that NO has little effect on the stimulatory action of these two peptides on prolactin release. Dopamine (0.1 ,uM), an inhibitor of prolactin release, reduced prolactin release, and this inhibitory action was significantly blocked by either hemoglobin (20 jig/ml) or NMMA and was completely blocked by 1 mM nitroarginine methyl ester. Atrial natriuretic factor at 1 ,uM also reduced prolactin release, and its action was completely blocked by NMMA. In contrast to these results with prolactin, luteinizing hormone (LH) was measured in the same medium in which the effect of nitroprusside was tested on prolactin release, there was no effect of nitroprusside, hemoglobin, or the combination of nitroprusside and hemoglobin on luteinizing hormone release. Therefore, in contrast to its inhibitory action on prolactin release NO had no effect on luteinizing hormone release. Immunocytochemical studies by others have shown that NO synthase is present in the folliculostellate cells and also the gonadotrophs of the pituitary gland. We conclude that NO produced by either of these cell types may diffuse to the lactotropes, where it can inhibit prolactin release. NO appears to play little role in the The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accorda...
Alpha-MSH exerts an immunomodulatory action in the brain and may play a neuroprotective role acting through melanocortin 4 receptors (MC4Rs). In the present study, we show that MC4Rs are constitutively expressed in astrocytes as determined by immunocytochemistry, RT-PCR, and Western blot analysis. alpha-MSH (5 microm) reduced the nitric oxide production and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 microg/ml) plus interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma, 50 ng/ml) in cultured astrocytes after 24 h. alpha-MSH also attenuated the stimulatory effect of LPS/IFN-gamma on prostaglandin E(2) release and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression. Treatment with HS024, a selective MC4R antagonist, blocked the antiinflammatory effects of alpha-MSH, suggesting a MC4R-mediated mechanism in the action of this melanocortin. In astrocytes, LPS/IFN-gamma treatment reduced cell viability, increased the number of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling-positive cells and activated caspase-3. alpha-MSH prevented these apoptotic events, and this cytoprotective effect was abolished by HS024. LPS/IFN-gamma decreased Bcl-2, whereas it increased Bax protein expression in astrocytes, thus increasing the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Alpha-MSH produced a shift in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio toward astrocyte survival because it increased Bcl-2 expression and also prevented the effect of LPS/IFN-gamma on Bax and Bcl-2 expression. In summary, these findings suggest that alpha-MSH, through MC4R activation, attenuates LPS/IFN-gamma-induced inflammation by decreasing iNOS and COX-2 expression and prevents LPS/IFN-gamma-induced apoptosis of astrocytes by modulating the expression of proteins of the Bcl-2 family.
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