Neurochemical recovery in the neocortex after colchicine lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis in rats.
Neurochemical recovery was investigated in male, Fischer-344 rats up to 3 months after lesions of the nucleus basalis. Bilateral injections of colchicine (1.0 micrograms/site) into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) resulted in a 30% decrease in choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity in frontal cortex 4 weeks after surgery, compared to unlesioned controls. ChAT activity in the frontal cortex gradually recovered to control levels by 12 weeks. The loss of ChAT-immunoreactive neurons in the NBM observed 4 weeks after surgery was still evident 12 weeks after surgery. These results suggest that surviving cholinergic neurons in the NBM contribute to recovery of ChAT activity in the neocortex.
Mundy
W R
WR
Laboratory of Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.
Tilson
H A
HA
D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D003078:Colchicine / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344
D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase; D003078:Colchicine