The intestine as source of immunoreactive substance P in plasma of the cat

Abstract

Substance P (SP) was measured in acid acetone extracted plasma of cats using a sensitive radioimmunoassay. The immunoreactive material was submitted to ion exchange chromatography and at least 90% of immunoreactivity co-chromatographed with synthetic SP. The level of immunoreactive SP (I-SP) in extracted plasma of the cat was 69.3±9.8 fmol/ml with values ranging from 2.5 to 165 fmol/ml. Evisceration of the cats caused a decrease of I-SP levels from 70.8±30.8 fmol/ml to 20.8±9.9 15 min and to 26.8±19.7 fmol/ml 60 min after the operation. Ligation of intestinal blood vessels led to a fall in I-SP levels from 58.7±11.5 to 25.9±4.1 fmol/ml within 15 min. No difference between I-SP values in portal (71.8±11.2 fmol/ml) and peripheral plasma (68.3±12.1 fmol/ml) was found under the conditions in which these experiments were performed. It is concluded that a major part of circulating immunoreactive SP originates from the intestine.