ACETYLCHOLINE ACTIVITY IN THE SCIATIC NERVE

An outflow of acetylcholine from normal and regenerating ventral roots of the cat

1. An outflow of acetylcholine (ACh) has been measured from cat ventral roots in situ and in vitro, using standard bio-assay techniques. The ACh was collected in chambers, filled with physiological solution containing anticholinesterase, which surrounded the root.2. The outflow fell rapidly at first and then progressively more slowly, taking several hours to fall to a level near the assay threshold. The outflow of ACh resulted from cutting a root or from such conventional manipulations as stretching the root or teasing apart root filaments. The outflow could occur either from the end of a root (following cutting) or from along the length of the root (following stretching or teasing). The outflow was only detected in the presence of an anticholinesterase.3. ACh was resynthesized by roots at a rate which was usually rapid enough to maintain their ACh content at its original level in spite of a considerable ACh outflow. In roots subjected to a minimum of interference their ACh content built up to about twice the initial content after 5-7 hr soaking in eserinized Krebs solution although the total ACh outflow was equivalent to the original ACh content.Roots which were cut or stretched several times within a few hours put out a large amount of ACh and showed a fall in their ACh content below the initial level.4. The time course of sealing of the damaged ends of axons following crushing was assessed by measuring the injury potential for 1-2 hr after crushing at room temperature; in normal roots the half-time for decline of the injury potential was 91 +/- 10 min. This was slower than the rate of decline of the ACh outflow.5. An explanation for the observed outflow of ACh is discussed in terms of diffusion of ACh and sealing of axon ends. It is concluded that much of the ACh in normal ventral root axons is present in a readily diffusible form.6. Similar experiments on roots regenerating 9-10 days after crushing showed that the ACh outflow from regenerating roots was much smaller than from normal axons, although their ACh content was similar. This could have been due to more rapid sealing of the cut regenerating axons since the half-time for the decline of the injury potential following crushing of the regenerating axons was less than half that in control roots. The alternative possibility is considered that a high proportion of the ACh might be much less diffusible than in normal axons.7. The subcellular distribution of ACh in normal and regenerating peripheral axons is discussed.

Acetylcholine and related enzymes in the neural lobe and anterior hypothalamus of the rabbit

1. Acetylcholine (ACh), cholinesterases and choline acetyltransferase (choline acetylase) were estimated in the neural lobe and hypothalamus of the adult male rabbit. Acetylcholine was also estimated in the neural lobes and hypothalami of some other mammals.2. Acetylcholine-like activity was measured by bio-assay using the leech dorsal muscle preparation.3. Characterization experiments indicated that about 90% of the activity measured was due to acetylcholine.4. Mean acetylcholine content in the neural lobe of the rabbit, after extraction with perchloric acid, was 4.38 +/- 0.98 mug/g fresh tissue, and 4.87 +/- 1.53 mug/g in the hypothalamus.5. Acetylcholine was also found to be present, in comparable concentrations, in the neural lobe of man and in the neural lobes and hypothalami of ox, rat and hedgehog.6. Acetylcholinesterase, present in the neural lobe and hypothalamus of the rabbit, hydrolysed 1.74 +/- 0.11 mu-moles of substrate/min/g and 3.78 +/- 0.60 mu-moles substrate/min/g fresh tissue respectively.7. The concentration of butyrylcholinesterase was about one tenth that of acetylcholinesterase in both tissues.8. Choline acetyltransferase present in the neural lobe and in the hypothalamus synthesized 87 +/- 22 mug ACh/hr/g fresh tissue and 378 +/- 149 mug respectively.

The distribution of acetylcholine in normal and in regenerating nerves

1. The distribution of acetylcholine (ACh) in various nerves which had been regenerating for different periods after crushing has been compared with that in uncrushed nerves.2. Normal ventral roots from cats contained 78.1 +/- 22.7 (S.D.) mumole ACh/kg (blotted wet wt.); rabbit ventral roots contained 48.0 mumole/kg +/- 19.0 (S.D.) and rabbit sciatic nerves 16.6 +/- 7.3 (S.D.) mumole/kg. In the sciatic nerves the distal cm of 5 cm lengths taken from the thigh contained 30% more ACh than the most central cm portion. Possible explanations for this difference have been discussed.3. After both sciatic nerves and ventral roots had been crushed, there was an initial build-up (4 times control) of ACh central to the lesion and a decline ((1/4) control) distal to the lesion. These changes were maximum around 5 days after crushing. In sciatic nerves in which long periods of regeneration were investigated, the central build-up fell off to 1(1/2) times control by 25 days and the distal decline reversed to 2 times control in about 10 days. It then again decreased towards the control level by 25 days after crushing. These changes have been discussed in relation to the morphological changes which occur in a nerve following crushing.4. A peak of ACh content moved distally along the nerve from the crushed region at a rate of 1.0-1.5 mm/day. This was considered to represent an average rate of regeneration of the bulk of the axons. The amplitude of the peak declined progressively with time in the more distal parts of the nerve, probably because of dispersion as axons regenerated at different rates.