Postnatal changes in gut hemodynamics: a possible role for substance P

Studies were conducted in young postnatal swine to determine if substance P (SP) participates in the regulation of postnatal intestinal hemodynamics and oxygenation. SP was present in homogenates of whole intestine from postnatal swine in an age-dependent manner as follows: 1 day old and never fed, 126 +/- 35; 3 days old and fasted, 148 +/- 30; and 14 days old, 51 +/- 10 pg/mg protein (P < 0.01, 14-vs. 1-or 3-day-olds). Phenylephrine-precontracted rings of mesenteric artery from 3-day-old subjects mounted for tension recording within buffer-filled myographs demonstrated brisk relaxation in response to SP (EC50, 2 x 10(-10) M). This relaxation was eliminated by mechanical removal of the endothelium or blockade with the L-arginine analog N-G-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) and was significantly attenuated by pretreatment with N-acyl-L-Trp-3,5-bis-(trifluoromethyl) benzyl ester (NATB), a highly selective NK-1 receptor antagonist (pA(2) 5 x 10(-10) M). Infusion of exogenous SP into the mesenteric artery of innervated in vivo gut loops reduced intestinal vascular resistance 35% and increased tissue oxygen uptake 40% in both 3-and 14-day-old subjects. By contrast, blockade of the NK-1 receptor for SP with NATB increased intestinal vascular resistance 19% in 3-day-old subjects but only 5% in 14-day-old subjects (P < 0.01). SP-induced changes in gut vascular resistance were significantly attenuated by prior coinfusion of NATB or L-NMMA, indicating that the peptide exerted this vascular effect via the NK-1 receptor, which is linked to endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase. Both NATB and L-NMMA attenuated flow-induced dilation within pump-perfused in vitro gut loops from 3-day-old subjects. SP appears to participate in the regulation of the newborn intestinal circulation, especially during the first days after birth.