Substance P regulates somatostatin expression in inflammation

Substance P (SP) and somatostatin (SOM) are made at mucosal surfaces and sites of inflammation. There is a SP/SOM immunoregulatory circuit that modulates the IFN-gamma response in murine schistosomiasis. SP enhances, while SOM decreases, IFN-gamma secretion. Various inflammatory mediators induce macrophages to make SOM, but no known factor limits this expression. It was discovered that SP regulates SOM synthesis. Splenocytes from normal, uninfected mice cultured with LPS, IFN-gamma, or IL-10 for 4 h strongly expressed SOM mRNA, but failed to do so in the presence of SP. The inhibition with 10(-9) M SP was > 85% shown by quantitative PCR. Also, splenocyte SOM content decreased from 1048 +/- 275 to < 10 pg/4 x 10(8) cells following SP exposure. Immunohistochemistry identified SOM solely within splenic macrophages following cytokine stimulation. Mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni form granulomas in the liver and intestines resulting from deposition of parasite eggs in these organs. The granulomas contain macrophages that make SOM constitutively. SP at 10(-8) M decreased SOM mRNA expression > 90% in dispersed granuloma cells cultured for 4 h or longer. Specific SP receptor antagonists blocked SP suppression of SOM expression in splenocytes and dispersed granuloma cells, showing that an authentic SP receptor mediated the regulation. Additional studies revealed that IL-4 antagonized the SP effect in the spleen. It is concluded that in granulomas and splenocytes from mice with schistosomiasis and in splenocytes from uninfected animals that 1) SP inhibits macrophage SOM induction and ongoing expression at the mRNA and protein levels acting through the SP receptor, and 2) IL-4 can antagonizes this SP effect.