Faculty Collaboration Database

Expression of mRNA for vasoactive intestinal peptide in normal human colon and during inflammation. Mol Cell Biochem 1995 Jan 12;142(1):1-7

Date

01/12/1995

Pubmed ID

7753037

DOI

10.1007/BF00928907

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0028939377 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   14 Citations

Abstract

The availability of colon provides a ready source of human neurons. Among the products of nerve cell bodies, vasoactive intestinal peptide is a neuropeptide that serves as a marker of non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic inhibitory nerves in colon. These nerves have been proposed to be involved in regulation of immune function, secretion, and smooth muscle function. In previous work, we identified decreased tissue levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide in a disorder of chronic colonic mucosal inflammation, ulcerative colitis. We hypothesized that diminished gene expression of vasoactive intestinal peptide could result in decreased tissue levels of this neuropeptide. Sigmoid colon was obtained at surgery from controls (n = 6) and patients with ulcerative colitis (n = 6). Vasoactive intestinal peptide mRNA was quantified by Northern blot hybridization and tissue levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide were determined by radioimmunoassay. Tissue vasoactive intestinal peptide was decreased only in the mucosal-submucosal layer of ulcerative colitis (p = .02). There was a single 1.7 kbase vasoactive intestinal peptide transcript identified in both control colon and ulcerative colitis. Normalized vasoactive intestinal peptide mRNA levels were increased by 260% in ulcerative colitis compared to controls (p < .01). These observations suggest that decreased vasoactive intestinal peptide gene expression or abnormal post-transcriptional processing are not primary defects in this disorder of chronic inflammation. The findings support the alternative hypothesis that axonal degeneration in ulcerative colitis could result in increased expression of neuronal vasoactive intestinal peptide mRNA.

Author List

Schulte-Bockholt A, Fink JG, Meier DA, Otterson MF, Telford GL, Hopp K, Koch TR

Author

Mary F. Otterson MD Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Blotting, Northern
Colitis, Ulcerative
Colon
Female
Gene Expression
Humans
Intestinal Mucosa
Male
Middle Aged
RNA, Messenger
Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide