We have investigated the actions of acetylcholine in the absence and presence of the P-agonist isoproterenol in cardiac Purkinje fibers. t3-Agonists, like isoproterenol, increase the magnitude of the pacemaker current (If) in cardiac myocytes by shifting its activation voltage more positive on the voltage axis. We find that acetylcholine has no effect on If in the absence of isoproterenol. Howe...

Acetylcholine and norepinephrine have a number of effects at the cellular level in the piriform cortex. Acetylcholine causes a depolarization of the membrane potential of pyramidal cells and interneurons, and suppresses the action potential frequency accommodation of pyramidal cells. Acetylcholine also has strong effects on synaptic transmission, suppressing both excitatory and inhibitory synap...

The degradation of acetylcholine receptor observed in denervated and innervated normal rat diaphragms in organ culture is stimulated by exogenous antireceptor serum. In this paper we demonstrate that diaphragms from rats with experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis contain reduced amounts of acetylcholine receptor. Acetylcholine receptor from myasthenic, but not from normal, rats has antibody...

Anticholinergics are widely used for the treatment of COPD, and to a lesser extent for asthma. Primarily used as bronchodilators, they reverse the action of vagally derived acetylcholine on airway smooth muscle contraction. Recent novel studies suggest that the effects of anticholinergics likely extend far beyond inducing bronchodilation, as the novel anticholinergic drug tiotropium bromide can...

Twenty-three neuroblastoma or hybrid cell lines were tested for their ability to synthesize and release acetylcholine and form synapses with rat striated muscle cells and clonal muscle cells. Six cell lines form synapses with muscle cells with high frequency; whereas, 17 cell lines were found which have defects in synapse formation. Of the 19 cell lines found that synthesize and release acetylc...

Ischemia-reperfusion causes endothelial dysfunction. Prolongation of acidosis during initial cardiac reperfusion limits infarct size in animal models, but the effects of acidic reperfusion on vascular function are unknown. The present work analyzes the effects of acidic reoxygenation on vascular responses to different agonists in rat aortic rings. Arterial rings obtained from Sprague-Dawley rat...

OBJECTIVE Many biological studies have been done to determine the activity of medicinal plants on gastrointestinal function. Since acetylcholine is the major transmitter involved in the gastrointestinal motility and there are some evidences regarding the cholinergic modulatory effect of hops extract, in the present study spasmolytic and antispasmodic action of hops (Humulus lupulus) on acetylch...

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are pentameric ligand-gated ion channels, which are involved in a wide range of neuronal functions. During the past decade, a large number of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits have been cloned and showed a discreet yet overlapping distribution pattern. Recently, several groups have produced mutant mice lacking specific nicotinic acetylcholine receptor s...

A chemiluminescent method has been used recently for the determination of acetylcholine with limitations such as the presence of a cholinesterase inhibitor in the incubation medium, which is indispensable for the study of acetylcholine release by various agents. A modified procedure is presented in which the cholinesterase inhibitor eserine (physostigmine) is extracted from the medium. The resu...

Septo-hippocampal cholinergic fibres ramify extensively throughout the hippocampal formation to release acetylcholine upon a diverse range of muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that are differentially expressed by distinct populations of neurones. The resultant modulation of cellular excitability and synaptic transmission within hippocampal circuits underlies the ability of acetyl...