Central cholinergic circuits of human brain can be tested non-invasively by coupling electrical peripheral stimulation with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex. The short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI) is reduced in cholinergic forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies, while it is normal in non-cholinergic forms of dementia, such...

Endothelial cell activation plays a critical role in regulating leukocyte recruitment during inflammation and infection. Based on recent studies showing that acetylcholine and other cholinergic mediators suppress the production of proinflammatory cytokines via the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7 nAChR) expressed by macrophages and our observations that human microvascular endoth...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with a loss of cholinergic neurons resulting in profound memory disturbances and irreversible impairment of cognitive function. The central cholinergic system is involved in the action of general anaesthetic agents. Anaesthetic modulation of cholinergic transmission has profound effects on brain function via a cascade of synaptic and postsynaptic events by...

Intracellular recordings were obtained from neurons in pontine reticular formation slices of the rat to characterize a cholinergic-gated increase in conductance. The conductance increase was associated with a hyperpolarization of the membrane potential and with an outward current under voltage-clamp conditions. Current-voltage relations and potassium substitution experiments indicated mediation...

The effects of cholinergic agents on hormone-stimulated cyclic AMP (cAMP) accumulation were investigated in iris-ciliary body segments, excised ciliary processes, and isolated ciliary epithelium from albino rabbit eyes. In all three tissue preparations, the cholinergic agonist carbamylcholine markedly inhibited the stimulation of cAMP biosynthesis by vasoactive intestinal peptide VIP--a potent ...

The prejunctional effects of cholinergic agents on release of norepinephrine from sympathetic nerve endings were investigated in the isolated, superfused rabbit iris-ciliary body. Stimulation-evoked release of 3H-norepinephrine was inhibited by the cholinergic agonists methacholine, oxotremorine, muscarine, carbamylcholine and acetylcholine (plus eserine), but was unmodified by pilocarpine or n...

Electrical activities have been recorded in a preparation consisting of the pelvic region and the upper ureter of the guinea pig. Train field stimulation of the pelvic region evoked a train of nerve action potentials followed by a multiphasic smooth muscle action potential after a latency of about 2.5--8.0 sec. This smooth muscle response was abolished by tetrodotoxin and dibucaine, and also by...

The role of muscarinic and nicotinic cholinergic receptors in analgesia and neuropathic pain relief is relatively unknown. This review describes how such drugs induce analgesia or alleviate neuropathic pain by acting on the central cholinergic system. Several pharmacological strategies are discussed which increase synthesis and release of acetylcholine (ACh) from cholinergic neurons. The effect...

Early research into Alzheimer's disease launched the cholinergic hypothesis, based on the correlation between central cholinergic deficiency and clinical measures of cognitive decline. This was epitomized in therapeutic strategies employing a variety of procholinergic agents, of which only the inhibitors of cholinesterase (ChE), the enzyme thai hydrolyzes acetylcholine in the synaptic cleft, ha...

On the dog isolated right ventricular muscle, experiments were carried out in order to elucidate the characteristics of the cholinergic antagonism against the positive inotropic action (PIA) induced via different subcellular mechanisms. The relationship between cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP levels, and contractile force during cholinergic antagonism was assessed. Carbachol (10 microM) by itself dec...