Abstract
Senile dementia of Alzheimer type (SDAT) is a disease of mid- or late life, and about 3 to 4% of the population above 65 years of age is estimated to be afflicted by this progressive dementia.’ One of the main characteristics of this disease is a decline in such cognitive abilities as memory and learning.’ The decline in recent memory seems to be a common characteristic of aging in mammals including humans, non-human primates, and rodents. In humans, this impairment is exacerbated by SDAT. Although the reasons for this cognitive loss in aged or demented subjects are not fully understood, there is evidence that deficits in central cholinergic transmission play an important role.1,3 Postmortem samples from cortical regions of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients have shown decreases of greater than 50% in the activity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), the enzyme that catalyzes the final step in the synthesis of acetylcholine (ACh). Scopolamine, an anticholinergic agent, causes memory defects in young adult volunteers. Physostigmine causes memory and thinking disturbances in human volunteers by preventing the hydrolysis of ACh, which accumulates to reach inhibitory concentrations at muscarinic receptors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
B. Reisberg. “Brain Failure: An Introduction to Current Concepts of Senility,” Free Press, New York (1981).
M.J. Ponticorvo, C. Flicker and R.T. Bartus, Cholinergic disfunction and memory: implications for the development of animal models of aging and dementia, Adv. Behay. Biol. 30: 205 (1986).
A. Nordberg, Biological markers and cholinergic hypothesis in Alzeheimer’s disease, Acta Neurol. Scand. (Suppl.) 139: 54 (1992).
Committee on animal models for research and aging, in: “Mammalian Models for Research,” pp. 21179 and 291–307, National Academy Press, Washington, DC (1981).
B.V.R. Sastry, V.E. Janson, N. Jaiswal and O.S. Tayeb, Changes in enzymes of the cholinergic system and acetylcholine release in the cerebra of aging male Fischer rats, Pharmacology 26: 61 (1983).
B.V.R. Sastry and O.S. Tayeb, Regulation of acetylcholine release in the mouse cerebrum by methionine enkephalin and substance P, Adv. Biosci. 38: 165 (1982).
B.V.R. Sastry, N. Jaiswal, O.S. Tayeb, Regulation of acetylcholine release from rodent cerebrum by presynaptic receptors, methionine enkephalin and substance P, Adv. Behavioral Biol. 30: 1047 (1986).
B.V.R. Sastry, L.K. Owens and R.F. Ochillo, Two furan analogs of muscarine as selective agonists at the presynaptic muscarinic receptors of the guinea pig longitudinal ileal muscle, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 604: 566 (1990).
B.V.R. Sastry, O.S. Tayeb, V.E. Janson and L.K. Owens, Peptides from human placenta: methionine enkephalin and substance P, Placenta (Suppl 3 ): 328 (1981).
B.V.R. Sastry, V.E. Janson, L.K. Owens and O.S. Tayeb, Enkephalin-like and substance P-like immunoreactivities of mammalian sperm and accessory sex glands. Biochem. Pharmacol. 31: 3529 (1982).
I. Hanin, Cholinergic toxins and Alzeheimer’s disease, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 648: 63 (1992).
C. Kowalski, J. Micheau, R. Corder, R. Gaillard and B. Conte-Devolx, Age-related changes in cortico-releasing factor, somatostatin, neuropeptide Y, methionine enkephalin and 6-endorphin in specific rat brain areas, Brain Res. 582: 39 (1992).
T. Sakurada, I. Alufuzoff, B. Winblad and A. Nordberg, Substance P-like immunoreactivity, choline acetyltransferase activity and cholinergie muscarinic receptors in Alzeheimer’s disease and multi-infarct dementia, Brain Res. 521: 329 (1990).
B.J. Quigley Jr. and N.W. Knowall, Substance P-like immunoreactive neurons are depleted in Alzheimer’s disease cerebral cortex, Neuroscience 41: 41 (1991).
C. Bouras, P.G. Vallet, P.R. Hoff, Y. Charnay, J. Golaz and J. Constantinidas, Substance P immunoreactivity in Alzeheimer’s dises«: a study in cases presenting symmetric or asymmetric cortical atrophy, Alzheimer Dis. Assoc. Disord. 4: 24 (1990).
R.K. Jaiswal, N. Jaiswal and B.V.R. Sastry, Age-related changes in phospholipid methylation and fluidity in microsomal and plasma membranes of the rat liver, Age 5: 137 (1982).
B.V.R. Sastry, L.S. Merkens and V.E. Janson, Age-related changes in the phospholipid methylation and membrane fluidity in the rat renal plasma membranes, Age 6: 140 (1983).
B.V.R. Sastry, Nicotinic Receptor, Anesth. Pharmacol. Rev. 1: 6 (1993).
J. Schnabel, New Alzeheimer’s therapy suggested, Science 260: 1719 (1993).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sastry, B.V.R., Janson, V.E., Tayeb, O.S. (1995). Aging-Induced Changes in the Autoregulation of Acetylcholine Release in the Rat Brain. In: Hanin, I., Yoshida, M., Fisher, A. (eds) Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases. Advances in Behavioral Biology, vol 44. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9145-7_41
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9145-7_41
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9147-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9145-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive