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. 1972 Nov;46(3):473–479. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1972.tb08144.x

Effects of some centrally acting drugs on acetylcholine synthesis by rat cerebral cortex slices

M Sharkawi
PMCID: PMC1666494  PMID: 4656608

Abstract

1. Brain cortex slices from rats injected i.p. with urethane (1 g/kg), chloral hydrate (350 mg/kg) or physostigmine (0·75 mg/kg) were examined for acetylcholine (ACh) content, cholinesterase (total enzyme) activity and formation of 14C-ACh from carbon 14-uniformly labelled glucose (U-14C-D-glucose) in the presence of 0·01 mM physostigmine.

2. Slices from rats treated with urethane, chloral hydrate, or physostigmine contained significantly higher concentrations of ACh than slices from untreated animals.

3. Only slices from physostigmine-treated rats had a significantly lower cholinesterase activity.

4. Slices from urethane- or chloral hydrate-treated animals formed significantly less 14C-ACh than slices from untreated or physostigmine-treated rats when incubated in 4 mM K+ medium. In an ACh-releasing medium (31 mM K+) slices from rats treated with urethane or chloral hydrate and slices from untreated rats formed similar amounts of 14C-ACh.

5. Slices from rats treated with atropine (25 mg/kg) or pentylenetetrazol (75 mg/kg) had a similar ability to form 14C-ACh as slices from untreated animals when incubated in either 4 or 31 mM K+ medium.

6. These findings suggest that the intraneuronal ACh concentration is a limiting factor in the regulation of ACh synthesis.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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