VIP is involved in peripheral CRF-induced stimulation of propulsive colonic motor function and diarrhea in male rats.

We investigated whether vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and/or prostaglandins contribute to peripheral corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-induced CRF1 receptor-mediated stimulation of colonic motor function and diarrhea in rats. The VIP antagonist, [4Cl-D-Phe6, Leu17]VIP injected intraperitoneally completely prevented CRF (10 µg/kg ip)-induced fecal output and diarrhea occurring within the first hour after injection, whereas pretreatment with the prostaglandins synthesis inhibitor, indomethacin, had no effect. In submucosal plexus neurons, CRF induced significant c-Fos expression most prominently in the terminal ileum compared with duodenum and jejunum, whereas no c-Fos was observed in the proximal colon. c-Fos expression in ileal submucosa was colocalized in 93.4% of VIP-positive neurons and 31.1% of non-VIP-labeled neurons. CRF1 receptor immunoreactivity was found on the VIP neurons. In myenteric neurons, CRF induced only a few c-Fos-positive neurons in the ileum and a robust expression in the proximal colon (17.5 ± 2.4 vs. 0.4 ± 0.3 cells/ganglion in vehicle). The VIP antagonist prevented intraperitoneal CRF-induced c-Fos induction in the ileal submucosal plexus and proximal colon myenteric plexus. At 60 min after injection, CRF decreased VIP levels in the terminal ileum compared with saline (0.8 ± 0.3 vs. 2.5 ± 0.7 ng/g), whereas VIP mRNA level detected by qPCR was not changed. These data indicate that intraperitoneal CRF activates intestinal submucosal VIP neurons most prominently in the ileum and myenteric neurons in the colon. It also implicates VIP signaling as part of underlying mechanisms driving the acute colonic secretomotor response to a peripheral injection of CRF, whereas prostaglandins do not play a role. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the gut plays a physiological role in the stimulation of lower gut secretomotor function induced by stress. We showed that vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-immunoreactive neurons in the ileal submucosal plexus expressed CRF1 receptor and were prominently activated by CRF, unlike colonic submucosal neurons. VIP antagonist abrogated CRF-induced ileal submucosal and colonic myenteric activation along with functional responses (defecation and diarrhea). These data point to VIP signaling in ileum and colon as downstream effectors of CRF.