Neuroactive peptides: Unique phases in research on mammalian brain over three decades☆

Abstract Because of the enormous growth over the last three decades of research on the role of peptides in the brain, the need became apparent to determine the status of these compounds in terms of their current research interest. Since 1965, over a quarter of a million research papers have been published on peptides that have since been classified as neuroactive. The present study was undertaken to analyze systematically the yearly trends of research emphasis in neuroactive peptides as reflected by their individual frequency of publication by year, beginning in 1966. A computer analysis of the publication characteristics was carried out using the Medline data base in which the citation search was limited to the topic brain crossed with the topic mammal . One criterion for the inclusion of a given peptide in the analysis was a frequency of 25 or more citations following its discovery, as related to the mammalian brain. The 42 peptides that met this criterion were: adrenocorticotropic hormone, angiotensin II, atrial natriuretic factor, bombesin, bradykinin, calcitonin, calcitonin gene-related peptide, carnosine, β-casomorphin, cholecystokinin, corticotropin-releasing factor, delta sleep-inducing peptide, dynorphin, β-endorphin, Leu-enkephalin, Met-enkephalin, galanin, gastrin, glucagon, growth hormone, growth hormone-releasing factor, insulin, kyotorphin, β-lipotropin, luteinizing hormone-releasing factor, melanocyte-stimulating hormone release inhibitory factor-1, α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, motilin, neurokinin A, neurokinin B, neuropeptide Y, neurotensin, oxytocin, pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide, peptide HI, prolactin, secretin, somatostatin, substance P, thyroid-releasing hormone, vasopressin, and vasoactive intestinal peptide. An overall analysis of the 298,105 papers published on these 42 peptides since 1965 revealed that the research activity of 24,742, or 8.30%, of the studies, focused on their neuroactive properties. Taken as a whole, the research on neuroactive peptides reached a peak in 1986, as reflected by the total of 1793 papers published during that year. Although the level of publication has fluctuated between 1548 and 1774 research papers over the last 6 years, it is now clear that the trend in research on neuroactive peptides has reached an asymptote today that shows no sign of deviation. A temporal analysis year by year of individual publication profiles revealed three distinct trends: 1) peptides showed a slow development in research interest and did not exceed more than 15–30 publications per year; 2) peptides exhibited a steady increase in research activity over the years that continues today; and 3) peptides displayed an initial, often intense, research emphasis that inexplicably declined, in some cases precipitously, in the mid 1980s. Thus, a popular belief is clearly unrealistic that the pace of investigation on newly discovered and well-established neuroactive peptides shows no signs of abatement. The implications of these findings to future initiatives and a commitment to undertaking research on a given peptide are considered and evaluated. This information not only will provide the scientist with the trend in research emphasis devoted to an individual neuroactive peptide but also delineate the magnitude of effort being expended on the experimental inquiry into each of these endogenous substances.