| Abstract: | FUXE, K., SIEGEL, R.A., ANDERSON, K., ENEROTH, P., MASCAGNI, F. & AGNATI, L.F. 1985. Acute continuous exposure to cigarette smoke produces discrete changes in cholecystokinin and substance P levels in the hypothalamus and preoptic area of the male rat. Acta Physiol Scand 125, 437–443. Received 8 January 1985, accepted 7 May 1985, TSSN 0001–6772. Department of Histology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, Research and Development Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, Deutsches Primaten Zentrum, Gottingen, FRG, and Department of Human Physiology, University of Modena, Italy. By means of a Walton Horizontal Smoking Machine, male rats were exposed to the smoke from 1–4 cigarettes burned in a continuous fashion. Cholecystokinin (CCK) and substance P levels (determined by means of radio-immunoassay) were measured in discrete hypothalamic and preoptic regions. Acute continuous exposure to cigarette smoke induced increases in CCK levels in the paraventricular hypothalamic region as well as decreases in CCK levels in the median eminence. Furthermore, this treatment resulted in decreased CCK and substance P levels in the medial preoptic region. The results have been interpreted to indicate that CCK and substance P containing neuronal systems can be regulated by cholinergic nicotine-like receptors. |
