CGRP IS EXPRESSED IN PRIMARY CULTURES OF HUMAN HEPATOCYTES AND IN NORMAL LIVER

We recently reported that human liver and primary cultures of hepatocy tes express calcitonin. We therefore studied the expression of calcito nin gene related peptide (CGRP), the alternative splicing product of t he calcitonin gene, in hepatocytes and liver. We used polymerase chain reaction amplification with specific primers to detect the presence o f CGRP I and II messengers and a specific radioimmunoassay to measure the peptide. We report here that CGRP is synthesized by primary cultur es of hepatocytes and in liver. As liver also possesses specific recep tors for CGRP in non-parenchymal cells, a paracrine system could be in volved in liver metabolism.