Article/book/paper on neuropeptides?

[Mentat]

Could anyone direct me to some article/book/paper on neuropeptides? Any information is appreciated, I just want to know about them. What is their activity in the body? I have heard (note: heard, not read) that they travel throughout the body...but I can't see what they would do, or what effect they could have. After all, there are no axon terminals in the cells permeating the body (except motor cells, I guess), so I don't see how they could be important facets of any normal process. However, I have heard of people talking about them as though they represent a relation between emotion and health; as well as many other, similar claims.

Again, I pretty much don't know anything about them (accept that they are a sort of neurotransmitter which seems to travel throughout the body, instead of just within synapses), so I'll appreciate any information I can get.

 

[Monique]

Hi Mentat, neuropeptides are a specific subtybe of neurotransmitters produced by the perikaryon, which is a neuron's cell body.

I think you might be more interested in neurotransmitters in general, such as adrenaline (epinephrine). You must know what that does. It is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter, which means it travels between neurons but also through the body.

 

[loseyourname]

The one person who claims that above all others is Candace Pert. If you can put up with her annoying self-promotion and patronizing writing, read her book Molecules of Emotion. It's a good introduction to the subject from the woman who discovered the opiate receptor and pretty much invented mind/body medicine.

 

[iansmith]

Here some abstract of review articles, if you are interrest I can also get the file when I at school.

Growth hormone deficiency and related disorders: insights into causation, diagnosis, and treatment.
Behavioral and physiological responses to anabolic-androgenic steroids.
Brain structures and neurotransmitters regulating aggression in cats: implications for human aggression.

 

[Moonbear]

If you're interested in neuropeptide functions in the peripheral nervous system, go to PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi) and type in the following keywords:
neuropeptides review peripheral

You'll get 70 pages of articles to choose from. You can narrow the search down more by choosing specific systems you're interested in or specific neuropeptides. I suggest scanning through some of the titles and see if there's something that strikes your interest that you can use to refine your search.

 

[Mentat]

Hi Mentat, neuropeptides are a specific subtybe of neurotransmitters produced by the perikaryon, which is a neuron's cell body.

I think you might be more interested in neurotransmitters in general, such as adrenaline (epinephrine). You must know what that does. It is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter, which means it travels between neurons but also through the body.

And are neuropeptides also both hormone and neurotransmitter?

 

[hitssquad]

Creating a web link to the Entrez (PubMed) databases

If you're interested in neuropeptide functions in the peripheral nervous system, go to PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi) and type in the following keywords:
neuropeptides review peripheral

To make a PubMed URL that includes search terms, add the code

?CMD=Search&DB=pubmed

(which normally appears after a search is performed) and the code

&term=termA

or

&term=termA+termB+termC

(if you have more than one search term) where termA, termB, termC, etc. are your desired search terms. For example, to make a PubMed URL that links directly to a search for neuropeptides review peripheral, we would make a PubMed URL with &term=neuropeptides+review+peripheral at the end, thusly:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=Search&DB=pubmed&term=neuropeptides+review+peripheral

More PubMed URL-creation tips are available in the PubMed Help section (linked on the front page in the blue bar on the left as Help). Once in the Help section, click on Creating a Web Link:

• URL Parameters
  
  Base URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
  
  
  Search
  Include search terms with or without Boolean operators. Spaces within a URL should be "escaped" by converting them to '+' signs, e.g., Biochem Soc Trans should be entered as Biochem+Soc+Trans.
  
  term=search terms
  
  PubMed:
  Search PubMed for citations about hay fever published in 2003:
  cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=hay+fever+AND+2003[pdat]