Brain muscarinic cholinergic receptors in Huntington's disease

Abstract

Summary. Muscarinic cholinergic receptors and choline acetyltransferase (CHAT) activity were studied in postmortem brain tissue from patients with Huntington's disease and matched control subjects. In comparison with controls, reductions in ChAT activity were found in the hippocampus, but not in the temporal cortex in Huntington's disease. Patients with Huntington's disease showed reduced densities of the total number of muscarinic receptors and of M-2 receptors in the hippocampus while the density of M-1 receptors was unaltered. Muscarinic receptor binding was unchanged in the temporal cortex. These results indicate a degeneration in Huntington's disease of the septo-hippocampal cholinergic pathway, but no impairment of the innominato-cortical cholinergic system.

Huntington Disease

“…In R6/2 this startle defi cit corresponds with hippocampal degeneration 113 consistent with the role of the septohippocampal system in prepulse inhibition in both humans 152 and rodents. In R6/2 this startle defi cit corresponds with hippocampal degeneration 113 consistent with the role of the septohippocampal system in prepulse inhibition in both humans 152 and rodents.…”

ELISA methods to measure cholinergic markers and nerve growth factor receptors in cortex, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and basal forebrain from rat brain

“…Moreover, these ELISA methods may provide a basis for correlating changes in levels ChAT, VAChT, HACT/CHT, TrkA, phospho-TrkA, or p75 NTR with alterations in cognitive function that accompany neurological diseases (Bosboom et al, 2003;Dunnett and Fibiger, 1993;Hartig et al, 2002;Lange et al, 1992;Mufson et al, 2003;Perry et al, 1997), neuropsychiatric disorders (Hartmann et al, 1993), brain trauma (Arciniegas, 2003), and neurotoxic exposures (Jamal et al, 2002;Qiao et al, 2004;Slotkin, 2004;Walsh and Emerich, 1988).…”

Monoamine‐activated α2‐macroglobulin inhibits choline acetyltransferase of embryonic basal forebrain neurons and reversal of the inhibition by NGF and BDNF but not NT‐3

“…One major abnormality found in many neurodegenerative disorders, including Down's syndrome, Huntington's chorea, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinsonism, is the loss of ChAT activity (Kish et al, 1989;Reinikainen et al, 1990;Lange et al, 1992Lange et al, , 1993). Alzheimer's disease is well known for specific losses in the cholinergic basal forebrain neurons (Reinikainen et al, 1990;Perry et al, 1992), which correlate with dementia and reductions in ChAT activity (Perry et al, 1978).…”