We have previously shown that stimulation of the preganglionic cervical sympathetic trunk leads to an acute increase in tyrosine hydroxylase (TyrOHase) activity in the rat superior cervical ganglion. This increase appears to be mediated in part by acetylcholine and in part by a second neurotransmitter. As a first step in an attempt to determine the identity of this noncholinergic transmitter, we have examined the ability of a number of neuropeptides to increase ganglionic TyrOHase activity in vitro. Secretin and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) both stimulated TyrOHase activity, whereas angiotensin II, bombesin, bradykinin, cholecystokinin octapeptide, glucagon, insulin, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone, [D-Ala(2), Met(5)]enkephalinamide, motilin, neurotensin, somatostatin, and substance P produced no effects. Secretin produced a significant increase in TyrOHase activity at 1 nM and a maximal elevation at 0.1 muM. VIP produced a significant increase at 0.1 muM and a near maximal effect at 10 muM. Although secretin was about 2 orders of magnitude more potent than VIP, it produced a significantly smaller maximal increase in enzyme activity. Incubation of ganglia with both secretin (10 muM) and VIP (10 muM) produced an increase in TyrOHase activity that was not significantly different from that produced by VIP alone. The stimulatory effects of secretin and VIP were reversible within minutes after removal of the peptides. Neither incubation of intact ganglia with the cholinergic antagonists hexamethonium and atropine nor prior decentralization of ganglia altered the response to the peptides. Thus, the data demonstrate that secretin and VIP acutely increase TyrOHase activity in the superior cervical ganglion and suggest that they produce this effect by acting directly on ganglionic neurons. It remains to be determined whether secretin or VIP or a related peptide is released during preganglionic nerve firing and whether one or more of these peptides is responsible for the noncholinergic elevation of TyrOHase activity produced by preganglionic nerve stimulation.