Abstract
Peptides are very simple molecules composed of amino acids linked by bonds resulting from the elimination of water between an amino group in one molecule and a carboxyl group in an adjacent molecule. Neuropeptides are peptides that either are found in, or influence, the nervous system. The number of neuropeptides identified changes constantly and currently exceeds 60 (cf. Krieger1 and Miller2). Slight changes in the sequence of amino acids in neuropeptides can profoundly alter their influences on the brain and behavior.3 4 The discovery that neuropeptides were located in the nervous system and participated in the communication among cells initially prompted studies of their modulatory influence on classic neurotransmitters. Because neuropeptides did not satisfy some of the rigid criteria of a neurotransmitter and were frequently co-localized with classic transmitters, it was assumed their primary function was to assist in neural communication. Subsequently, peptides were anointed as a new class of neurotransmitter1 and in an insightful analysis, Hokfelt et al. 5 described critical differences between classic neurotransmission and peptidergic transduction. These investigators noted that, compared with classic transmitters, peptidergic transmission was slow and that peptides were released in very small quantities (three- to sixfold less than classic transmitters). A speculative conclusion from this analysis was that peptides produced long-lasting effects (they need not act fast) that were very potent (very little is needed to initiate and sustain neuronal communication). Currently, neuropeptides are considered both as important modulators of aminergic transmission and as primary transmitters. Thus, the addition of a new class of Figure 1. Schematic representation of peptides derived from POMC. (—) Validated translational products. (---) Possible products. transmitters and their co-localization with classic transmitters encouraged the development of models for complex rather than simple (see, e.g., Dale6) signal transmission.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Krieger CF: Brain peptides: What, where, why? Science 222:975–985, 1983
Miller RJ : Peptides as neurotransmitters: Focus on the enkephalins, in de Wied D Gispen WH van Wimersma Greidanus TJB(eds), Neuropeptides and Behavior, Vol. 1. Oxford, Pergamon, 1986, pp 95–136
Dewied D : Behavioral effects of intraventricular administered vasopressin and vasopressin fragments. Life Sci 19:685–690, 1976
Sandman CA, Beckwith BE, Kastin AJ: Are learning and attention related to the sequence of amino acids in ACTH/MSH peptides? Peptides 1:277–280, 1980
Hokfelt T, Johansson O, Ljungdahl A, et al : Peptidergic neurons. Nature (London) 284:515–521, 1980
Dale HH : Pharmacology and nerve endings. Proc Soc Med 28:319–332, 1935
O’Donohue TL, Miller RL, Jacobwitz DM: Identification, characterization, and stereotaxic mapping of intraneuronal a-melanocyte stimulating hormone-like immunoreactive peptide in discrete regions of the rat brain. Brain Res 175:1–23, 1979
Akil H, Hewlitt H, Barchas JD, et al : Binding of H-beta-endorphin to rat brain membranes: Characterization of opiate properties and interaction with ACTH. Eur J Pharmacol 64:1–8, 1980
Farah JM, Millington WR, O’Donohue TL : The role and regulation of post translational processing of proopiomelanocortin, Central Actions of ACTH and Related Peptides. Fidia Research Series, Symposia in Neuroscience IV-Liviana Press, Padova, 1986
Gluckman PD, Marti-Henneberg C, Kaplan SL, et al : Hormone ontogeny in the ovine fetus. X. The effects of β-endorphin and naloxone on circulating growth hormone, prolactin, and chronic sommatomammotropin. Endocrinology 107:76–79, 1980
Phoenix CH, Goy RW, Gerall AA, et al : Organizing action of prenatally administered testosterone propionate on the tissue mediating mating behavior in the female guinea pig. Endocrinology 65:369–382, 1959
Whalen RE : Differentiation of the neural mechanisms which control gonadotropin secretion and sexual behavior, in Diamond M (ed), Reproduction and Sexual Behavior. Bloomington, Indiana, Indiana University Press, 1968, pp 303–340
Levine S : Plasma-free corticosteroid response to electric shock in rats stimulated in infancy. Science 135:1585–1592, 1962
Eayrs JT : Age as a factor determining the severity and reversibility of the effects of thyroid deprivation in the rat. J Endocr 22:409–419, 1961
Beckwith BE, Sandman CA, Hothersall D, et al : Influence of neonatal injections of a-MSH on learning, memory, and attention in rats. Physiol Behav 18:63–71, 1977
Sandman CA, Kastin AJ : The influence of fragments of the LPH chain on learning, memory and attention in animals and man. Pharmacol Ther 13:39–60, 1981
Sandman CA, Kastin AJ : Behavioral actions of ACTH and related peptides, in Li CH (ed), Hormonal Proteins and Peptides. Orlando, Florida, Academic, 1987, pp 147–171
Sandman CA, Miller LH, Kastin AJ, et al : A neuroendocrine influence on attention and memory. J Comp Physiol Psychol 80:59–65, 1972
Sandman CA, Alexander WD, Kastin AJ : Neuroendocrine influences on visual discrimination and reversal learning in the albino and hooded rat. Physiol Behav 11:613–617, 1973
Veith JL, Sandman CA, George JM, et al : Effects of MSH/ACTH 4-10 on memory, attention and endogenous hormone levels in women. Physiol Behav 20:43–50, 1978
Walker BB, Sandman CA : Influences on an analog of the neuropeptide ACTH 4-9 on mentally retarded adults. Am J Ment Defic 83:346–352, 1979
Ward MM, Sandman CA, George JM, et al : MSH/ACTH 4-10 in men and women: Effects upon performance of an attention and memory task. Physiol Behav 22:669–673, 1979
Sandman CA, Walker BB, Lawton CA : An analog of MSH/ACTH 4-9 enhances interpersonal and environmental awareness in mentally retarded adults. Peptides 1:109–114, 1980
Sandman CA, Kastin AJ : Intraventricular administration of MSH induces hyperalgesia in rats. Peptides 2:231–233, 1981
Pantella K, Sandman CA, Bachman DS : Trial of an ACTH 4-9 analogue in children with intractable seizures. Neuropediatrics 13:59–62, 1982
Veith JL, Sandman CA, George JM, et al : The relationship of endogenous ACTH levels and enhanced visual-attentional functioning in congenital adrenal hyperplasics. Psychoneuroendocrinology 10:33–48, 1985
Sandman CA, Berka C, Walker BB, et al : ACTH 4-9 effects on the human visual event-related potential. Peptides 6:803–807, 1985
Champney TF, Shaley TC, Sandman CA : Effects of neonatal cerebral ventricular injections of ACTH 4-9 and subsequent adult injections on learning in male and female albino rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 5:3–10, 1976
Swaab DF, Boer GJ, Boer K, et al : Fetal neuroendocrine mechanisms in development and parturition, in Comer MA Baker RE van de Poll NE Swaab DF Uylings HBM(eds), Maturation of the Nervous System. Progress in Brain Research. Amsterdam, Elsevier, 1978, pp 277–290
Swaab DF, Boer GJ, Visser M : The fetal brain and intrauterine growth. Postgrad Med J 54 (suppl 1):63–73, 1978
Visser M, Swaab DF : Life span changes in the presence of a-melanocyte-stimulating hormone-containing cells in the human pituitary. J Dev Physiol 1:161–178, 1979
Gennazzani AR, Petraglia F, Parrini D, et al : Lack of correlation between amniotic fluid and maternal plasma contents of beta endorphin, beta lipotropin and adrenocorticotropin hormone in normal and pathologic pregnancies. Am J Obstet Gynecol 148:198–203, 1984
Evans MI, Fisher AM, Robichaux AG, et al : Plasma and red blood cell b-endorphin immunoreactivity in normal and complicated pregnancies. Am J Obstet Gynecol 151:433–437, 1985
Newnham JP, Tomlin S, RaHers SJ, et al : Endogenous opioid peptides in pregnancy. Br J Obstet Gynecol 90:535–538, 1983
Browning AJF, Butt WR, Lynch S S, et al: Br J Obstet Gynecol 90:1147–1151, 1983
Wilkes MM, Stewart RD, Bruni JF, et al : A specific homologous radioimmunoassay for human 13-endorphin: Direct measurement in biological fluids. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 50:309–315, 1980
Divers WS, Stewart RD, Wolkes MM, et al : Amniotic fluid, β-endorphin and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormones immunoreactivity in normal and complicated pregnancies. Am J Obstet Gynecol 144:539–546, 1982
Lis M, Julesz J, Senicas VM, et al : N-terminal peptide of pro-opiomelanocortin in human amniotic fluid. Am J Obstet Gynecol 146:575–579, 1983
Csontos K, Rust M, Hollt V, et al: Elevated plasma B-endorphin levels in pregnant women and their neonates. Life Sci 25:835–844, 1979
Kofinas GD, Kofinas AD, Tavakoli FM : Maternal and fetal (β-endorphin release in response to the stress of labor and delivery. Am J Obstet Gynecol 152( 1 ):56–59, 1985
Gautray JP, Jolivet A, Vielh JP, et al : Presence of immunoassayable β-endorphin in human amniotic fluid: Elevation in cases of fetal distress. Am J Obstet Gynecol 123:211–212, 1977
Wardlaw SL, Stark RI, Boci L, et al : Plasma β-endorphin and β-lipotropin in the human fetus at delivery: Correlation with arterial pH and pO2. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 79:888–891, 1979
Goland RS, Wardlaw SL, Stark RI, et al : Human plasma β-endorphin during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 52:74–78, 1981
Shaaban MM, Hong TT, Hoffman DI, et al : Beta-endorphin and beta-lipotropin concentrations in umbilical cord blood. Am J Obstet Gynecol 144:560–568, 1982
Davidson S, Gil-Ad Irit, Rogovin Hana, et al: Cardiorespiratory depression and plasma P-endorphin levels in low-birth weight infants during the first day of life. American Journal of Diseases in Children 141:145–148, 1987
Wardlaw SL, Stark RI, Daniel S, et al : Effects of hypoxia on β-lipotropin release in fetal, newborn and maternal sheep. Endocrinology 108:1710–1715, 1981
Stark RI, Wardlaw SL, Daniel SS, et al : Vasopressin secretion induced by hypoxia in sheep: Developmental changes and relationship to β-endorphin release. Am J Obstet Gynecol 143:204–215, 1982
Panerai AE, Martini A, Abbate D, et al : β-endorphin, met-enkephalin and beta-lipotropin in chronic pain and electroacupuncture. Adv Pain Res Ther 5:543–547, 1983
Chemick V, Craig RJ : Nalaxone reverses neonatal depression causes by fetal asphyxia. Science 216:1252–1253, 1982
Fachinetti F, Bagnoli F, Bracci R, et al : Plasma opioids in the first hours of life. Pediatr Res 16:95–99, 1982
Brubaker PL, Baird AC, Bennet HP, et al : Corticotropic peptides in the human fetal pituitary. Endocrinology 111:115–1154, 1982
Chard T, Silman RE : Pituitary peptides in primary fetuses, in Novy MJ Resko JA(eds), Fetal Endocrinology. Orlando, Florida, Academic, 1981, pp 303.
Nakai Y, Nakao K, Oli S, et al : Presence of immunoreactive β-lipotropin and β-endorphin in human placenta. Life Sci 23:2013–2098, 1978
Fraioli F, Genazzani AR : Human placental β-endorphin. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 11:37–42, 1980
Odagiri E, Sherell BJ, Mount CD, et al : Human placental immunoreactive corticotropin, beta-lipotropin, and beta-endorphin: Evidence for a common precursor. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76:2027–2031, 1979
Kent JL, Pert CB, Herkenham M : Ontogeny of opiate receptors in rat forebrain: Visualization by in vitro autoradiography. Dev Brain Res 2:487–504, 1982
Allessi NE, Khachaturian H, Watson S, et al : Postnatal ontogeny of acetylated and non-acetylated pendorphin in rat pituitary. Life Sci 33(suppl l):57–60, 1983
Moldow RL, Kastin AJ, Hollander CS, et al : Brain β-endorphin-like immunoreactivity in adult rats given β-endorphin neonatally. Peptides, Brain Research Bulletin 7:683–686, 1981
Sandman CA, Yessian N : Persisting subsensitivity of the striatal dopamine system after fetal exposure to β-endorphin. Life Sci 39:1755–1763, 1986
Sandman CA, McGivem RF, Berka C, et al: Neonatal administration of β-endorphin produces “chronic” insensitivity to thermal stimulus. Life Sci 25:1755–1760, 1979
Feigenbaum J, Yanai J : The role of dopaminergic mechanisms in mediating the central behavioral effects of morphine in rodents. Neuropsychobiology 11:98–105, 1971
MacNichol E, Kung YW, Levin S, et al : Stimulation of dopamine synthesis in caudate nucleus by intrastriatal enkephalins and antagonism by nalaxone. Science 200:522–554, 1978
Pollard H, Lorens C, Schwartz J : Enkephalin receptors on dopaminergic neurons in rat striatum. Nature (Lond) 268:745–747, 1977
Zadina JE, Kastin AJ, Coy DH, et al : Developmental, behavioral, and opiate receptor changes after prenatal or postnatal β-endorphin, CRF, or Tyr-MIF-1. Psychoneuroendocrinology 10:367–383, 1985
Zadina JE and Kastin AJ : Neonatal peptides affect developing rats: β-Endorphin alters nociception and opiate receptors, Corticotropin-releasing factor alters corticosterone. Dev Brain Res 29:21–29, 1986
Beckwith BE, O’Quin RK, Petro MS, et al: The effects of neonatal injections of a-MSH on the open field behavior of juvenile and adult rats. Physiol Psychol 5:295–299, 1977
Grimm FE, Frieder B : Differential vulnerability of male and female rats to the timing of various perinatal insults. Int J Neurosci 27:155–164, 1985
Crothers BS, Paine RS : The Natural History of Cerebral Palsy. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1959
Hill A, Volpe JJ : Seizures, hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and inteventricular hemmorhage in the newborn. Ann Neurol 10:109–121, 1981
Johnston MV : Neurotransmitter alteration in a model of prenatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Ann Neurol 13:511–518, 1983
Barron J, Sandman CA : Relationship of sedative-hypnotic response to self-injurious behavior and stereotypy in mentally retarded clients. Am J Ment Defic 2:177–186, 1983
Barron J, Sandman CA : Self-injurious behavior and stereotypy in an institutionalized mentally retarded population. Appl Res Ment Retard 5:81–93, 1984
Barron J, Sandman CA : Paradoxical excitement to sedative-hypnotics in mentally retarded clients. Am J Ment Defic 2:124–129, 1985
Towbin A : Cerebral dysfunctions related to perinatal organic damage: Clinical-neuropathologic correlations. J Abnorm Psychol 87:617–635, 1978
Windle WF : An experimental approach to prevention or reduction of the brain damage of birth asphyxia. Dev Child Neurol 8:129–140, 1966
Windle WF : Brain damage at birth. JAMA 206:1967–1972, 1967
Dawes GS, Hibbard E, Windle WF : The effect of alkali and glucose infusion on permanent brain damage in rhesus monkeys asphyxiated at birth. J Pediatr 65:801–806, 1964
Sechzer JA, Faro MD, Barker JN, et al : Developmental behaviors: Delayed appearance in monkeys asphyxiated at birth. Science 171:1173–1175, 1971
Broman SH : Perinatal anoxia and cognitive development in early childhood, in Field T Sostek AM Goldberg S(eds), Infants Born at Risk. New York, Spectrum, 1979, pp 201–252
Low JA, Galbreath RS, Muir DW, et al : Factors associated with motor and cognitive deficits in children after intrapartum fetal hypoxia. Am J Obstet Gynecol 148:533–539, 1984
Zaspan FP: Toxemia of pregnancy in gynecology and obstetrics, Sciara F (ed), Vol. 2. Hagerstown, Maryland, Harper & Row, 1981, pp 1-20
Davidson JM, Lindheimar MD: Hypertension in pregnancy, Sciarra F (ed), Vol. 1. Hagerstown, Maryland, Harper & Row, 1981, pp 1-28
Welt SI, Crenshaw MD : Concurrent hypertension and pregnancy. Clin Obstet Gynecol 21:619–648, 1978
Dunlop TCH : Chronic hypertension and perinatal. Proc R Soc Med 59:838–841, 1966
Alvarez RA : Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. Clin Obstet Gynecol 16:47–71, 1973
Salomen JJ, Hermonen OP : Mental retardation and mother’s hypertension during pregnancy. J Ment Defic 28:53–56, 1984
McCoshen JA, Tyson JE : Altered prolactin bioactivity in amniotic fluid of hypertensive pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol 65:24–30, 1985
Sandman CA, Datta P, Barron J, et al : Naloxone attenuates self-abusive behavior in developmentally disabled clients. Appl Res Ment Retard 4:5–11, 1983
Weizman R, Weizman A, Tyano S, et al : Humoral-endorphin blood levels in autistic, schizophrenic and healthy subjects. Psychopharmacology 82:368–370, 1984
Sandman CA : (β-Endorphin disregulation in autistic and self-injurious behavior: A neurodevelopmental hypothesis. Synapse 2:193–199, 1988
Gillberg C, Terenius L, Lonnerheim G : Endorphin activity in childhood psychosis. Arch Gen Psychiatry 42:780–783, 1985
Agren H. Terenius L, Wahlstrom A: A depressive phenomenology and levels of cerebrospinal fluid endorphins. Ann NY Acad Sci 398:388–398, 1982
Deutsch SI : Rationale for the administration of opiate antagonists in treating infantile autism. Am J Ment Defic 90:631–635, 1986
Farber JM : Psychopharmacology of self-injurious behavior in the mentally retarded. J Am Acad Adol Psychiatry 26:296–302, 1987
Sandyk R : Naloxone abolished self-injuring in a mentally retarded child. Ann Neurol 17:520, 1985
Davidson PW, Kleene BM, Carroll M, et al : Effects of naloxone on self-injurious behavior: A case study. Appl Res Ment Retard 4:1, 1983
Richardson JS, Zaleski WA : Naloxone and self-mutilation. Biol Psychiatry 18:99–101, 1983
Sandman CA, Barron JL, Crinella FM, et al : Influence of Naloxone on brain and behavior of a selfinjurious woman. Biol Psychiatry 22:899–906, 1987
Campbell M, Small AM, Sokol MS, et al : Naltrexone in autistic children: An acute dose range tolerance trial. San Diego, Stallone Foundation, 1987
Beckwith BE, Couk DI, Schumacher K : Failure of naloxone to reduce self-injurious behavior in two developmentally disabled females. Appl Res Ment Retard 7:183–188, 1986
Herman CH, Hammock MK, Arthur-Smith A, et al : Naltrexone decreases self-injurious behavior. Ann Neurol 22:550–552, 1987
Szymanski L, Kedesdy J, Sulkes S, et al : Naltrexone in treatment of self injurious behavior: A clinical study. Res Dev Disabil 8:179–180, 1987
Selye H : The Stress of Life. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1956
Axelrod J, Reisine TD : Stress hormones: Their interaction and regulation. Science 224:452–459, 1984
Erickson MT : The relationship between variables and specific complications of pregnancy, labor, and delivery. J Psychosom Res 20:207–210, 1976
Gorsuch RL, Key MK : Abnormalities of pregnancies as a function of anxiety and life stress. Psychosomat Med 36:352–362, 1974
Luakaran VH, van de Berg BJ : The relationship of maternal attitude to pregnancy outcomes and obstetric complications. Am J Obstet Gynecol 136:374–379, 1980
Lederman E, Lederman RP, Work BA, et al : Maternal psychobiological and physiological correlates of fetal-newborn health status. Am J Obstet Gynecol 139;956–958, 1981
Nuckolls KB, Cassel J, Kaplan BH : Psychosocial assets, life crisis, and the prognosis of pregnancy. Am J Epidemiol 95:431–441, 1972
Andreoli C, Magni G. Rizzardo R : Stressful life events, anxiety and obstetric complications, in Pancheri P Zichella L Falsachi P(eds), Endorphins, Neuroregulators and Behavior in Human Reproduction. Amsterdam, Excerpta Medica, 1984, pp 297–304
Connelly JA, Cullen JH : Materhnal stress and the origins of health status, in Call JD Galenson E Tyson RL(eds), Frontiers of Infant Psychiatry. New York, Basic Books, 1983, pp 273–281
Brown WA, Manning T, Grodin J : The relationship antenatal and perinatal psychological variables to the use of drugs in labor. Psychosom Med 34:119–127, 1972
Goodlin RC : Naloxone and its possible relationship to fetal endorphin levels and fetal distress. Am J Obstet Gynecol 139:16–19, 1981
Feigenbaum J, Yanai J, Moon B, et al : The effect of drugs altering striatal dopamine levels on apomorphine induced stereotypy. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 16:235–240, 1982
Costa E : The modulation of postsynaptic receptors by neuropeptide cotransmitters: A possible site of action for a new generation of psycho-tropic drugs. In Usdin E. Bunney WE Davis JM(eds), Neuroreceptors—Basic and Clinical Aspects. New York, Wiley, 1981, pp 15–25.
Eidelberg E, Erspamer R : Dopaminergic mechanism of opiate actions in brain. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 192:50–57, 1975
Eidelberg E, Schwartz A : Possible mechanism of action of morphine in brain. Nature (Lond) 225:1152–1153, 1970
Kuschinsky K, Homykiewicz O : Morphine catalepsy in the rat: Relation to striatal dopamine metabolism. Eur J Pharmacol 19:119–122, 1982
MacNichol E. Kung YW, Levin S, et al: Stimulation of dopamine synthesis in cudate nucleus by intrastriatal enkephalins and antagonism by naloxone. Science 200:552–554, 1978
Pollard H, Lorens J, Schwartz J : Enkephalin receptors on domaminergic neurons in rat striatum. Nature (Lond) 268:745–747, 1977
Pollard H, Lorens C, Schwartz et al : Localization of opinate receptors and enkephalins in the rat striatum in relationship with the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system: Lesion studies. Brain Res 151:392–398, 1978
Carenzi A, Guidptto R, Reveulta R, et al : Molecular mechanisms in the actions of morphine viminol (R2) on rats striatum. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 194:311–318, 1975
Loh H, Brase D, Sampath-Khanna S, et al : β-Endorphin in vitro inhibition of dopamine release. Nature (Lond) 264:567–568, 1976
Subramanian N, Mitznegg P, Sprugel W : Influence of enkephalin on K+ evoked efflux of putative neurotransmitters in the rat brain. Arch Pharmacol 229:163–165, 1977
Biggio M, Casu M, Corda M, et al : Stimulation of dopamine synthesis in caudate nucleus by intrastriatal enkephalins and antagonism by naloxone. Science 200:552–554, 1978
Iwatsubo K, Clouet DH : Dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase of the caudate nuclleus of rats treated with morphine as haloperidol. Biochem Pharmacol 24: 1499–1503, 1975
Seeman D : Brain dopamine receptors. Pharmacol Rev 32:229–292, 1981
Friedhoff AJ, Miller JC : Prenatal psychotropic drug exposure and the development of central dopaminergic and cholinergic neurotransmitter systems. Monog Neural Sci 9:91–98, 1983
Rosengarten H, Friedhoff AJ : Enduring changes in dopamine receptor cells of pups from drug administration to pregnant and nursing rats. Science 203:1133–1135, 1979
Hull EM, Nishita JK, Bitran D, et al : Perinatal dopamine-related drugs demasculinize rats. Science 224:1011–1013, 1984
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Plenum Publishing Corporation
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sandman, C.A., Kastin, A.J. (1990). Neuropeptide Modulation of Development and Behavior. In: Deutsch, S.I., Weizman, A., Weizman, R. (eds) Application of Basic Neuroscience to Child Psychiatry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0525-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0525-5_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7849-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0525-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive