History of Plasma kinins:
Kinins in Greek means “to move” and their role is also such that it
moves or takes forward the process of inflammation. Bradykinin one of
the most important kinin and extensively studied has its roots
originating from 1948 from biological institute at Sao Paulo which was
discovered by a team of physiologists and pharmacologists led by Dr.
Mauricio Rocha e silva.1 This research later on
continued and led to the development of captopril initially referred as
“Bradykinin potentiating factor “. The discovery of bradykinin has led
to a new understanding of many physiological and pathological phenomena
including circulatory shock induced by venoms and toxins.
The next in this group is referred as Tachykinins as the name suggests
and in contrary to Bradykinins, they cause rapid action and also
homologous to bradykinin it also helps to sustain inflammation. The
discovery of this substance came during the early 20thcentury. In 1931, while investigating the tissue distribution of the
newly characterized transmitter acetylcholine, Von Euler and Gaddum
noted in acid ethanol extracts of equine intestine a hypotensive and
spasmogenic activity that differed from acetylcholine in that it
contracted the rabbit jejunum in the presence of atropine. The activity
of this preparation, first referred to as P on kymograph tracings, was
distinct from the biologically active principles known at that time. The
active component was soon termed substance P (P for preparation), and
early experiments suggested that SP was peptide or protein in
nature.2 Tachykinins include 10-12 amino acid
containing peptides that include Neurokinin k, Neurokinin A, substance P
and Neuropeptide gamma. So, these kinins have an important role in
various physiological processes and thereby they could be manipulated to
produce various pharmacological effects.