Neutral endopeptidase (E.C.3.4.24.11, enkephalinase, NEP) is a potentially important enzyme capable of regulating the activity of neuropeptides released in the respiratory mucosa. In order to confirm the existence of NEP in the human respiratory mucosa, inferior nasal turbinate mucosae obtained at surgery and nasal secretions induced by topical provocations with methacholine, histamine, and allergen were analyzed for: (1) NEP activity (pmol product/min/ml) by enzymatic degradation of [3H]leu-enkephalin, (2) the presence of NEP-immunoreactive material by Western blot analysis, and (3) cellular localization of NEP distribution by immunohistochemistry. NEP activity in human nasal secretions obtained after normal saline challenge was 0.15 +/- 0.06 pmol/min/ml. Secretion increased to 0.86 +/- 0.26 pmol/min/ml after methacholine provocation and 1.69 +/- 0.74 pmol/min/ml after histamine provocation. The increase in NEP activity in methacholine-induced secretions was prevented by atropine (0.13 +/- 0.06 pmol/min/ml). After methacholine, histamine, and antigen nasal provocation, the kinetics of NEP appearance correlated more closely to the glandular marker, lactoferrin, than with the vascular markers albumin and IgG. In homogenates of nasal mucosa, the membrane fraction contained significantly more NEP on a per mg protein basis than did the soluble fraction (227.6 +/- 50.52 versus 9.61 +/- 3.18 pmol/min/mg protein, respectively, P < 0.01, n = 6). NEP in the membrane fraction was detected as a single band migrating at 97 kD on Western blots using antibodies specific for NEP and the common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen (CALLA). Immunoreactive NEP was localized to serous cells of the submucosal glands, epithelial cells, and endothelial and myoepithelial cells of small vessels. Staining for NEP in the serous cells was of the same intensity as that in epithelial cells. These results indicate that 97 kD NEP-immunoreactive material exists in discrete locations in the nasal mucosa, including the epithelium, serous cells of the submucosal glands, and vessel walls, and that NEP activity is detected as a minor component in nasal secretions enriched by glandular products. In addition to the modulating functions of NEP on neuropeptide-mediated activities on vessels and glands, it is possible that NEP in secretions plays a role in regulating mucosal responses to luminal neuropeptides or other as yet uncharacterized NEP substrates.