Presynaptic synthesis of acetylcholine (ACh) requires a steady supply of choline, acquired by a plasma membrane, hemicholinium-3-sensitive (HC-3) choline transporter (CHT). A significant fraction of synaptic choline is recovered from ACh hydrolyzed by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) after vesicular release. Although antecedent neuronal activity is known to dictate presynaptic CHT activity, the mech...

dracocephalum kotschyi boiss. is a traditional medicine with antispasmodic activities. the objective of this research was to study antispasmodic activities of hydroalcoholic extract of d. kotschyi on rat isolated uterus contractions for comparison with isolated ileum. hydroalcoholic extract was obtained from aerial part of d. kotschyi using percolation method. a portion of rat ileum or uterus w...

Platelet-activating factor (PAF), a potent signaling lipid implicated as a mediator of pathological responses, has both negative chronotropic and inotropic effects on the heart, although the mechanism(s) involved is not well defined. Because activation of the muscarinic acetylcholine-activated K' current (IK(ACh)) also produces a negative chronotropic and inotropic response in myocardium, this ...

Possible central noradrenergic and cholinergic modulation of acute peripheral inflammation was investigated in rats, adopting the formaldehyde-induced pedal inflammation as the experimental model. Intracerebroventricularly (icv) administered noradrenaline (NA), alpha-adrenoceptor agonist, L-phenylephrine, alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist, clonidine and non-selective beta-adrenoceptor blocker, propr...

Neurons that produce acetylcholine (ACh) are positioned to broadly influence the brain, with axonal arborizations that extend throughout the cerebral cortex, striatum, and hippocampus. While the action of these neurons has typically been attributed entirely to ACh, neurons often release more than one primary neurotransmitter. Here, we review evidence for the cotransmission of the inhibitory neu...

A family of genes has been identified that encodes subunits of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and is expressed in the nervous system. Functional neuronal nAChRs can be expressed in Xenopus oocytes by injection of RNA encoding 1 of 2 different &subunits (/32,84) in pairwise combination with RNA encoding 1 of 3 different a-subunits (a2, (~3, a4). We examined the sensitivity of these 6...

Kawada, Toru, Toji Yamazaki, Tsuyoshi Akiyama, Kazunori Uemura, Atsunori Kamiya, Toshiaki Shishido, Hidezo Mori, and Masaru Sugimachi. Effects of Ca channel antagonists on nerve stimulation-induced and ischemia-induced myocardial interstitial acetylcholine release in cats. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 291: H2187–H2191, 2006. First published June 9, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00175.2006.—Alth...

Abstract Background Angina pectoris in the absence of relevant epicardial stenoses (ANOCA) is frequently caused by coronary microvascular spasm. It has been speculated that morphology arteries associated with One hypothesis vasoconstriction microvessels leads to intraluminal pressure increase vascular segments proximal spasm, which may shift balance vessel forces toward elongation resulting tor...

We examined the effects of exogenous choline (30, 60, 120 mg/kg, i.p.) on basal and scopolamine-evoked acetylcholine (ACh) release in awake animals, using in vivo microdialysis. After collection of 3-4 baseline dialysate samples (15 min each), rats received either saline or choline chloride and 4 additional samples were collected. All animals then received scopolamine hydrochloride (0.5 mg/kg, ...

The concentration of extracellular Ca2+ has been shown to enhance or attenuate [3H]acetylcholine (ACh) release subsequent to a conditioning stimulus in rat brain hippocampal slices. Slices were incubated in vitro in [3H]choline solution. Subsequently the slices were subjected to two consecutive electrical stimulations separated by 15 or 30 min at 0.25, 1, 4 and 16 Hz and [3H]ACh release was ass...