The nerves of the juxtaglomerular apparatus of man and other mammals contain the potent peptide NPY

✍ Scribed by J. Ballesta; J. M. Polak; J. M. Allen; S. R. Bloom

• Book ID: 104786784
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 467 KB
• Volume: 80
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1432-119X
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00495438

✦ Synopsis

The juxtaglomerular apparatus, a neuroendocrine unit located in the vascular pole of the glomerulus and influencing blood pressure by the secretion of renin, is known to have a rich supply of monoaminergic nerve fibres. Neuropeptide Tyrosine (NPY), a newly discovered, potent, vasoconstrictor peptide of 36 amino acids, has been found by immunocytochemistry to be present in a dense plexus of fibres around the juxtaglomerular apparatus of man, monkey, mouse, hamster, rat and guinea pig. NPY-immunoreactivity was markedly depleted after chemical sympathectomy by 6-hydroxydopamine. The concentration of NPY within the whole mouse kidney was 29.6 +/- 6.8 pmol/g and fractionation of the extracts demonstrated that the NPY-like immunoreactivity co-eluted from the column in the same position as the porcine NPY standard. The role of this peptide in renal physiology and pathology now needs urgent investigation.