Immunohistochemical evidence for the presence of somatostatin,a powerful inhibitory peptide,in some primary sensory neurons

With the indirect immunofluorescence technique somatostatin or somatostatin-like immunoreactivity was found in some neuronal cell bodies in spinal ganglia, in fibers in the substantia gelatinosa of the spinal cord and in nerves in the gut. These findings suggest that a certain population of primary sensory neurons contain somatostatin (or a somatostatin-like peptide), a peptide known to exert an inhibitory action both in the central nervous system and in some endocrine systems.