McCulloch J, Kelly P A
Nature. 1983;304(5925):438-40. doi: 10.1038/304438a0.
Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) is present in high concentrations in the cerebral cortex, where it is the putative neurotransmitter of a major intracortical neuronal system. Homogenates of cortical tissue contain high-affinity, specific binding sites for VIP as well as an adenylate cyclase system which is sensitive to this peptide. As with many of the other peptidergic systems which have been identified in the central nervous system (CNS), it has proved extremely difficult to elucidate the nature and extent of the functional role of VIP in specific brain areas. Here, using the quantitative autoradiographic 14C-deoxyglucose technique in rats to provide insight into functional processes, we describe the increases in glucose utilization which occur locally in anterior cingulate cortex following the unilateral injection of VIP (20 pmol) into this key brain area and, additionally, the focal alterations in glucose use in CNS regions having known neuronal connections with the injected region (for example, ipsilateral mediodorsal thalamus, ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, caudate nucleus and contralateral cingulate cortex). These data provide evidence that VIP may modify the processing of afferent and efferent information within the anterior cingulate cortex in the conscious rat.
血管活性肠肽（VIP）在大脑皮质中浓度很高，它被认为是主要皮质内神经元系统的神经递质。皮质组织匀浆含有对VIP的高亲和力、特异性结合位点以及对该肽敏感的腺苷酸环化酶系统。与中枢神经系统（CNS）中已确定的许多其他肽能系统一样，要阐明VIP在特定脑区的功能作用的性质和程度极其困难。在此，我们利用定量放射自显影14C - 脱氧葡萄糖技术来深入了解大鼠的功能过程，描述了在将VIP（20皮摩尔）单侧注射到这个关键脑区后，前扣带回皮质局部发生的葡萄糖利用增加情况，此外，还描述了与注射区域有已知神经元连接的中枢神经系统区域（例如同侧丘脑背内侧核、腹侧被盖区、伏隔核、尾状核和对侧扣带回皮质）葡萄糖利用的局灶性改变。这些数据提供了证据，表明VIP可能会改变清醒大鼠前扣带回皮质内传入和传出信息的处理。
