A great many CNS peptides have been discovered that produce dramatic effects both on animal behavior and on the activity of individual neurons. In many cases, peptide hormones discovered in the periphery (see Chapter 17) also act as neurotransmitters in the CNS. As most of these peptides were initially named based on their peripheral functions, the names are often unrelated to their CNS function. The pathways for many of the peptides have been mapped with immunohistochemical techniques and include opioid peptides (eg, enkephalins, endorphins), neurotensin, substance P, somatostatin, cholecystokinin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, neuropeptide Y, and thyrotropin-releasing hormone.
Unlike the classical neurotransmitters above, which are packaged in small synaptic vesicles, neuropeptides are generally packaged in large, dense core vesicles. As in the peripheral autonomic nervous system, peptides often coexist with a conventional non-peptide transmitter in the same neuron, but the release of the neuropeptides and the small-molecule neurotransmitters can be independently regulated. Released neuropeptides may act locally or may diffuse long distances and bind to distant receptors. Most neuropeptide receptors are metabotropic and, like monoamines, primarily serve modulatory roles in the nervous system. Neuropeptides have been implicated in a wide range of CNS functions including reproduction, social behaviors, appetite, arousal, pain, reward, and learning and memory. Thus, neuropeptides and their receptors are active targets of drug discovery efforts.
A good example of the approaches used to define the role of these peptides in the CNS comes from studies on substance P and its association with sensory fibers. Substance P is contained in and released from small unmyelinated primary sensory neurons in the spinal cord and brain stem and causes a slow excitatory postsynaptic potential in target neurons. These sensory fibers are known to transmit noxious stimuli, and it is therefore surprising that— although substance P receptor antagonists can modify responses to certain types of pain—they do not block the response. Glutamate, which is released with substance P from these synapses, presumably plays an important role in transmitting pain stimuli. Substance P is certainly involved in many other functions because it is found in many areas of the CNS that are unrelated to pain pathways.
Orexins are peptide neurotransmitters produced in neurons in the lateral and posterior hypothalamus that, like the monoamine systems, project widely throughout the CNS. Orexins are also called hypocretins due to the near simultaneous discovery by two independent laboratories. Like most neuropeptides, orexin is released from large, dense core vesicles and bind to two G protein-coupled receptors. Orexin neurons also release glutamate and are thus excitatory. The orexin system, like the monoamine systems, projects widely throughout the CNS to influence physiology and behavior. In particular, orexin neurons exhibit firing patterns associated with wakefulness and project to and activate monoamine and acetylcholine neurons involved in sleep-wake cycles (see also Chapter 22). Animals lacking orexin or its receptors have narcolepsy and disrupted sleep-wake patterns. In addition to promoting wakefulness, the orexin system is involved in energy homeostasis, feeding behaviors, autonomic function, and reward.
A. Endocannabinoids
The primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, Δ9tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), affects the brain mainly by
CB1 Presynaptic neuron Postsynaptic neuron mGluR1/5 PLC DAG 2-AG 2-AG Exogenous cannabinoids (e.g. THC) DAG lipase ˜°˛