Regional distribution of bombesin and seven other regulatory peptides in the human brain

In order to compare within the same brains the quantitative distributions of a range of neuropeptides, bombesin, N- and C-terminal glucagon, cholecystokinin, neurotensin, somatostatin, substance P and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide immunoreactivities were determined by radioimmunoassay in 24 regions of 5 normal adult human brains. Each peptide showed a different distribution pattern. Of the peptides not previously mapped in detail in the human brain, bombesin-like immunoreactivity was present in all regions with the highest concentrations in particular areas of the hypothalamus, septal nuclei, nucleus accumbens, globus pallidus, amygdala, periaqueductal grey and substantia nigra. C- and N-terminal glucagon immunoreactivities were detected only in the ventromedial hypothalamus. The concentrations of the remaining 5 peptide immunoreactivities, and their molecular forms, were in good general agreement with those reported individually by others in both human brains and those of experimental animals. The quantitative mapping of the regulatory peptides in the human brain provides an essential base for further comparative study in diseased postmortem brains.