The Functional Role of Bovine Adrenal Medullary New Cardioactive Peptides

Abstract

Development of new approaches and techniques to investigate specific CNS protein has led to a quick progress in studies of the adrenal medullary protein spectra. In addition to the catecholamines and nucleotides, large amounts of water-soluble proteins (chromogranins) of various molecular sizes and some (about 30) identified and unidentified proteins and peptides have been found. The first of the identified polypeptides were vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and substance P (1), neuropeptide Y (2), somatostatin, neurotensine (3) the opioid peptides (4). Some glycoproteins (dopamine-β-hy-droxylase) and O-glycosylated polypeptides have also been identified. Even this short list provides some perspective onto the search for new bioactive compounds in the adrenal medulla. Cardioactive compounds that we discovered earlier (5) in the bovine adrenal medulla are interesting in this respect. Interest in these compounds as well as further studies on their identification, are associated with the involvement of adrenals in the realization of the coronarodilating effect of hypothalamic neurohormones “k” and “c” (6). Eight cardioactive compounds have been isolated from the bovine adrenal medulla. These compounds differ from each other in terms of their pharmacological characteristics (the duration of action, the time taken to increase and the magnitude of the peak effect).