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.
Laboratory of Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.
W R
WR
Mundy
H A
HA
Tilson
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