Release of vasoactive intestinal peptide from rat brain slices by various depolarizing agents

The release of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) from rat brain cortical and amygdala slices was studied by using various depolarizing agents such as potassium (K+), veratridine (VER) and batrachotoxin (BTX). The basal release of VIP observed is of the same order of magnitude for both structures and represents less than 0.1% of the tissue content per minute measured by a specific radioimmunoassay. Maximal stimulation obtained with 56 mMK+, 50 microM VER and 1 microM BTX corresponds to a mean 3-fold increase above the basal release of VIP in both cortex and amygdala. When the incubation medium did not contain any calcium, the action of potassium on the release of VIP was suppressed. When tetrodotoxin (1 microM) was added to the incubation medium, the veratridine- and batrachotoxin-induced release of VIP was inhibited whereas K+-induced release was unaffected. These results support the hypothesis that VIP can be a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system.