Comprehensive review of 32 neuropeptides including opioid peptides, covering their brain distribution, synthesis, receptor binding, and proposed functions from a neurosurgical perspective.
32 brain peptides mappedComprehensive review covering location, synthesis, receptors, and function for each major neuropeptide
What the researchers found
32 brain peptides are categorized and reviewed across location, synthesis, receptor binding, and function, organized into opioid, pituitary hormone, and miscellaneous peptide groups.
Why it matters
This review provided a useful reference map of brain peptides at a time when the field was rapidly expanding. It connects peptide discovery to clinical neurosurgery.
How the study worked
Narrative review summarizing published literature on 32 neuropeptides as of 1991.
What this study cannot tell us
Narrative review from 1991. Many details have been updated since. Broad scope limits depth on any single peptide system.
How to read the evidence
Moderate narrative review synthesizing a broad body of research. Provides a good overview but details have been updated since.
When this study was published
Published in 1991. Many peptide functions have been more precisely defined since. Still useful as a foundational reference.
The bigger picture
This review captured the state of neuropeptide knowledge at a pivotal time, providing a reference framework that remains useful for understanding the brain's chemical complexity.
Questions still open
- How have the proposed functions of these peptides been updated since 1991?
- Which of these 32 peptides have led to clinical applications?
Common questions
Why are there so many brain peptides?
Are any of these 32 peptides used as drugs?
Read the original research
Neuropeptides.
Neurosurgical review, 14(2), 97-110
Citation
Moore, M R; Black, P M. (1991). Neuropeptides.. Neurosurgical review, 14(2), 97-110.