Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Journal of Pharmacology logoLink to British Journal of Pharmacology
. 1983 Apr;78(4):665–669. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1983.tb09418.x

Topical capsaicin pretreatment inhibits axon reflex vasodilatation caused by somatostatin and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in human skin

P Anand, SR Bloom, GP McGregor
PMCID: PMC2044739  PMID: 6133573

Abstract

1 Wheal and flare reactions are described following intradermal injections of somatostatin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, substance P and histamine in normal human forearm skin. Bombesin failed to produce a significant wheal and flare.

2 Pretreatment of skin with capsaicin in all cases dramatically inhibited the flare but not the wheal. This result is in accord with the hypothesis that capsaicin blocks the effector side of the axon reflex, perhaps by depleting nerve terminals of vasodilatory peptide(s).

Full text

PDF
665

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ainsworth A., Hall P., Wall P. D., Allt G., MacKenzie M. L., Gibson S., Polak J. M. Effects of capsaicin applied locally to adult peripheral nerve. II. Anatomy and enzyme and peptide chemistry of peripheral nerve and spinal cord. Pain. 1981 Dec;11(3):379–388. doi: 10.1016/0304-3959(81)90637-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arvier P. T., Chahl L. A., Ladd R. J. Modification by capsaicin and compound 48/80 of dye leakage induced by irritants in the rat. Br J Pharmacol. 1977 Jan;59(1):61–68. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1977.tb06977.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BONNEY G. The value of axon responses in determining the site of lesion in traction injuries of the brachial plexus. Brain. 1954 Dec;77(4):588–609. doi: 10.1093/brain/77.4.588. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bernstein J. E., Swift R. M., Soltani K., Lorincz A. L. Inhibition of axon reflex vasodilatation by topically applied capsaicin. J Invest Dermatol. 1981 May;76(5):394–395. doi: 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12520912. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burnstock G. Autonomic neuroeffector junctions--reflex vasodilatation of the skin. J Invest Dermatol. 1977 Jul;69(1):47–57. doi: 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12497872. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. CELANDER O., FOLKOW B. The nature and the distribution of afferent fibres provided with the axon reflex arrangement. Acta Physiol Scand. 1953 Nov 17;29(4):359–370. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1953.tb01032.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Carpenter S. E., Lynn B. Vascular and sensory responses of human skin to mild injury after topical treatment with capsaicin. Br J Pharmacol. 1981 Jul;73(3):755–758. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1981.tb16812.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chahl L. A., Manley S. W. Inflammatory peptide in spinal cord: evidence that the mediator of antidromic vasodilatation is not substance P. Neurosci Lett. 1980 May 15;18(1):99–103. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(80)90219-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cuello A. C., Polak J. M., Pearse A. G. Substance P: a naturally occurring transmitter in human spinal cord. Lancet. 1976 Nov 13;2(7994):1054–1056. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)90968-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Cutz E., Chan W., Track N. S., Goth A., Said S. I. Release of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in mast cells by histamine liberators. Nature. 1978 Oct 19;275(5681):661–662. doi: 10.1038/275661a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gamse R., Holzer P., Lembeck F. Decrease of substance P in primary afferent neurones and impairment of neurogenic plasma extravasation by capsaicin. Br J Pharmacol. 1980 Feb;68(2):207–213. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1980.tb10409.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Holzer P., Saria A., Skofitsch G., Lembeck F. Increase in tissue concentrations of histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine following capsaicin treatment of newborn rats. Life Sci. 1981 Sep 14;29(11):1099–1105. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(81)90197-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hägermark O., Hökfelt T., Pernow B. Flare and itch induced by substance P in human skin. J Invest Dermatol. 1978 Oct;71(4):233–235. doi: 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12515092. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hökfelt T., Elde R., Johansson O., Luft R., Nilsson G., Arimura A. Immunohistochemical evidence for separate populations of somatostatin-containing and substance P-containing primary afferent neurons in the rat. Neuroscience. 1976;1(2):131–136. doi: 10.1016/0306-4522(76)90008-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hökfelt T., Johansson O., Ljungdahl A., Lundberg J. M., Schultzberg M. Peptidergic neurones. Nature. 1980 Apr 10;284(5756):515–521. doi: 10.1038/284515a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Jancśo G., Király E., Jancsó-Gábor A. Direct evidence for an axonal site of action of capsaicin. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 1980 Aug;313(1):91–94. doi: 10.1007/BF00505809. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Johnson A. R., Erdös E. G. Release of histamine from mast cells by vasoactive peptides. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1973 Apr;142(4):1252–1256. doi: 10.3181/00379727-142-37219. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Lundberg J. M., Hökfelt T., Nilsson G., Terenius L., Rehfeld J., Elde R., Said S. Peptide neurons in the vagus, splanchnic and sciatic nerves. Acta Physiol Scand. 1978 Dec;104(4):499–501. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1978.tb06307.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Moody T. W., Thoa N. B., O'Donohue T. L., Jacobowitz D. M. Bombesin-like peptides in rat spinal cord: biochemical characterization, localization and mechanism of release. Life Sci. 1981 Nov 30;29(22):2273–2279. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(81)90560-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Nicoll R. A., Schenker C., Leeman S. E. Substance P as a transmitter candidate. Annu Rev Neurosci. 1980;3:227–268. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ne.03.030180.001303. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Seybold V. S., Hylden J. L., Wilcox G. L. Intrathecal substance P and somatostatin in rats: behaviors indicative of sensation. Peptides. 1982 Jan-Feb;3(1):49–54. doi: 10.1016/0196-9781(82)90141-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Szolcsányi J., Jancśo-Gábor A., JOO F. Functional and fine structural characteristics of the sensory neuron blocking effect of capsaicin. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 1975;287(2):157–169. doi: 10.1007/BF00510447. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Theoharides T. C., Betchaku T., Douglas W. W. Somatostatin-induced histamine secretion in mast cells. Characterization of the effect. Eur J Pharmacol. 1981 Jan 16;69(2):127–137. doi: 10.1016/0014-2999(81)90407-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wall P. D., Fitzgerald M. Effects of capsaicin applied locally to adult peripheral nerve. I. Physiology of peripheral nerve and spinal cord. Pain. 1981 Dec;11(3):363–377. doi: 10.1016/0304-3959(81)90636-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Pharmacology are provided here courtesy of The British Pharmacological Society

RESOURCES