Relation of substance P to stress and catecholamine metabolism.
Most research on substance P deals with its presumed function in the nervous system. Both excitatory and inhibitory actions have been observed in pharmacological studies. For example, substance P has a dual action on nociception in mice: it produces analgesia or hyperalgesia, depending on the dose and on the individual sensitivity to pain. This is interpreted to mean that substance P is capable of normalizing responsiveness to pain. Thus substance P could be classified as a regulatory peptide, or 'regulide'. A similar normalizing action of substance P was found in stress-induced disorders of sleep, behaviour and blood pressure in rats. The mechanism of this normalizing action is not yet clear. The decrease in activity observed for dopamine beta-hydroxylase and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase in adrenal glands of rats treated with the peptide may serve as a preliminary hypothesis.
D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000201:enzymology; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010625:Phenylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013373:Substance P / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*
D002395:Catecholamines; D013373:Substance P; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase; D010625:Phenylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase