Effect of capsaicin pretreatment on capsaicin-evoked release of immunoreactive somatostatin and substance P from primary sensory neurons.

Release of immunoreactive somatostatin (I-SRIF) and immunoreactive substance P (I-SP) was studied from slices prepared from upper dorsal horn (UDH) and lower dorsal plus ventral horn (LDH-VH) of rat spinal cord. Superfusion with capsaicin (10 microM) led to release of I-SRIF and I-SP from UDH slices but not from LDH-VH slices. The capsaicin-evoked release of I-SP was 6 fold higher than that of I-SRIF. A pulse of 60 mM K+ applied after the capsaicin pulse caused release of I-SRIF and I-SP from UDH as well as LDH-VH slices. Pretreatment of rats with capsaicin (125 mg/kg, s.c.) led to a nearly 40% depletion of I-SP in slices from UDH only. Capsaicin-evoked release from these slices was reduced by 81% for I-SRIF and by 79% for I-SP. Release evoked by K+ remained unchanged. These results indicate that capsaicin causes release of both I-SRIF and-I-SP and that this release is most likely restricted to primary sensory neurons. The marked reduction of the release of I-SP after systemic capsaicin pretreatment may well represent one of the, or even the reason for the insensitivity of capsaicin pretreated rats towards chemogenic pain.