查看文章

An important aspect of brain cholinesterase function is related to enzymatic differences. The brain of mammals contains two major forms of cholinesterases: acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). The two forms differ genetically, structurally and for their kinetics. Butyrylcholine is not a physiological substrate in mammalian brain which makes the function of BuChE of difficult interpretation. In human brain, BuChE is found in neurons and glial cells as well as in neuritic plaques and tangles in Alzheimer disease (AD) patients. While AChE activity decreases progressively in the brain of AD patients, BuChE activity shows some increase. In order to study the function of BuChE, we perfused intracortically the rat brain with a selective BuChE inhibitor and found that extracellular acetylcholine increased 15 fold from 5 to 75nM concentrations with little cholinergic side effects in the animal. Based on …