title: Peptide histidine methionine and vasoactive intestinal peptide levels in human cerebrospinal fluid: age-related changes and absence of a correlation with serum prolactin.
abstract: Serum levels of prolactin (PRL), peptide histidine methionine (PHM) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) were measured in 97 subjects and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of PHM and VIP were measured in 50 subjects by specific radioimmunoassays to investigate correlations between them. The chromatographic studies revealed that PHM and C-terminal extended form of PHM, peptide histidine valine occurred in human serum and CSF. Significant age-related increases of CSF PHM (P < 0.02) were observed in both males and females, whereas an age-related decrease of serum PRL level was found in females (P < 0.01). In contrast, neither serum VIP, serum PHM nor CSF VIP changed significantly with age. There was a significant positive correlation (P < 0.002) between VIP and PHM in serum, but not in CSF. The close relation between VIP and PHM in serum meets one's expectation because of their derivation from a common precursor. In CSF, these two peptides did not change in parallel with each other. These results may reflect the alteration in metabolism of PHM in CSF. Finally, there was no correlation between serum PRL concentrations and either serum or CSF levels of the peptides, suggesting that neither VIP nor PHM levels in CSF as well as in serum can influence the basal PRL secretion in subjects without endocrine disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Kobe University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minamitani
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chihara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010451:Peptide PHI / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D010451:Peptide PHI; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide; D011388:Prolactin