Central effects of substance P and somatostatin in conscious, streptozotocin-treated rats

Cardiovascular responses to intracerebroventricular (icv) injections of substance P and somatostatin were measured in Long-Evans and Brattleboro rats treated with streptozotocin (STZ) or saline. Substance P icv evoked similar pressor responses and tachycardia in STZ-treated and saline-treated Long-Evans rats, together with signs of behavioral activation (i.e., arousal). As a group, Brattleboro rats did not respond significantly to icv substance P, although some individual rats showed clear cardiovascular and behavioral responses. These findings may indicate a reduced sensitivity to icv substance P in Brattleboro rats but show no differences attributable to STZ treatment. Hence, diminished pressor responses to icv angiotensin II (observed previously) may be specific to sympathoadrenal activation associated with drinking. Somatostatin caused a pressor effect in saline-treated, but not in STZ-treated, Long-Evans rats, which was probably due to arginine vasopressin (AVP)-mediated mechanisms because it was not present in either saline-treated or STZ-treated Brattleboro rats. Both control and STZ-treated Long-Evans rats showed a bradycardic response to somatostatin that was not seen in Brattleboro rats. These results indicate that different AVP-mediated mechanisms might be responsible for the pressor and bradycardic effects of icv somatostatin. It is possible that impairment of central somatostatin-mediated AVP release contributes to the diminished role of AVP in blood pressure recovery following ganglion blockade in STZ-treated rats described previously.