Demonstration of immunoreactive vasoactive intestinal peptide (IR-VIP) and somatostatin (IR-SOM) in rat thymus

In the present work we demonstrate immunohistochemically the presence of both immunoreactive vasoactive intestinal peptide (IR-VIP) and immunoreactive somatostatin (IR-SOM) cells in the thymus of neonatal and adult rats. IR-VIP and IR-SOM from thymic tissue extracts were identified by gel chromatography, HPLC as VIP standard, and somatostatin S-28, respectively. IR-VIP (352.7 pg/thymus) amounts greater than those of IR-SOM (38.7 pg/thymus) detected by radioimmunoassay in the thymus of 3-month-old rats reflected the abundance of IR-VIP positive cells demonstrated by immunohistochemistry. Somatostatin-like immunoreactive cells were identified as epithelial or neuroendocrine-like cells arranged in the thymic cortico-medullary border, whereas IR-VIP positive cells appeared to be large lymphoid cells distributed along the connective tissue trabeculae. Furthermore, IR-VIP lymphoid cells occurred in the periarteriolar lymphoid tissue of the splenic white pulp where lymphoblasts accumulate. The results are discussed with respect to the mutual interactions between the neuroendocrine and immune systems and the possible role played by neuropeptides in these interactions.