Gastrointestinal peptides in serum and synovial fluid from patients with inflammatory joint disease.

Abstract

SUMMARY The concentrations of immunoreactive vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (ir-VIP), immunoreactive pancreatic polypeptide (ir-PP), ir-somatostatin, and ir-secretin were measured in serum and synovial fluid from patients suffering from various inflammatory joint diseases. One group of patients were not taking any medication, while another group received antiinflammatory treatment at the time of sampling. High levels of ir-VIP in the synovial fluid were observed in the untreated group of patients, and the concentration of ir-VIP in the synovial fluid was significantly higher than in parallel serum samples. On the other hand, no significant differences in the concentrations of the other peptides were observed either between serum and synovial fluid or between the two groups of patients. It is suggested that VIP is released locally at the inflammatory site and that VIP may be of significance in inflammatory disorders.

Concentration of Substance P, Neurokinin A, Calcitonin Gene-related Peptide, Neuropeptide Y and Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide in Synovial Fluid from Knee Joints in Patients Suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…and to influence bone formationhesorption (27). In a study on synovial fluid from patients with various inflammatory joint diseases, VIP was found in both untreated and pharmacologically treated patients with a higher concentration in the former group (15). It is unclear to us if the present results on VIP has any implications on pathophysiological mechanisms, since it was not stated in detail by Lygren et a1 (15) whether patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis were included in the study.…”

“…Group B: These 12 patients ( 9 women and 3 males, mean age 54.3f12.33 years, range 31-73 years) consulted a clinic for rheumatology due to acute knee joint swelling and pain. The patients had rheumatoid arthritis, 10 seropositive and 2 seronegative, and had suffered from their disease for 4-27 years with a mean duration of 19.9f8.45 years, table I (patients [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The patients had not taken any of their normally used anti-inflammatory or diseasemodifying drugs for 12 hours before examination.…”

“…It has thus been shown that neuropeptide Y (NPY) and the classical neurotransmitter norepinephrine are found together in sympathetic efferents (13) as are also vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and acetylcholine (14). VIP has been found in synovial fluid from knee joints in patients suffering from various inflammatory joint diseases (15) and has been suggested to be released locally due to the inflammation. Experimental studies have shown that VIP also has immunomodulatory effects (16).…”

Differential expression of vasoactive intestinal peptide and its functional receptors in human osteoarthritic and rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts

“…Although clinical trials of VIP or related neuropeptides in human inflammatory diseases have not been performed, our previous studies demonstrated that exogenous VIP modulates different proinflammatory pathways ex vivo in human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial cells (11,12). The detection of several neuropeptides, including VIP, in human arthritic joints suggests that endogenous VIP might play a regulatory role in response to joint inflammation (13,14). Results of previous studies point to variable inflammation-regulated expression of VIP as well as the different VIP receptors in murine cells, but information regarding human inflammatory cells is scarce (15).…”

Reduction in serum levels of substance P in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by etanercept, a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor

“…It is abundant in both peripheral and central neurons [8]. In addition, it has been reported that CGRP concentrations are elevated in the synovial fluids of patients with RA [9,10]. GRP is a peptide of 27 amino acid residues, originally isolated from the non-antral part of the porcine stomach.…”