title: Cardiac acetylcholine concentration in the rat.
abstract: Varying values for the acetylcholine (ACh) concentration in the rat heart have been reported. The possibility that the method of sampling may influence prompted a comparison of heart levels of ACh obtained by two different procedures for sacrificing animals. One method was by microwave irradiation in vivo and the others being in vitro on the irradiated heart removed after decapitation. There were significant differences found in cardiac ACh concentration between the in vivo irradiated group and the decapitation groups. In decapitated animals, the cardiac ACh concentration became increasingly lower on standing. We also measured the ACh concentration of right atrium, left atrium, right ventricle and left ventricle. They were 4.62 +/- 1.57 nmol/g (mean +/- SD), 2.58 +/- 1.01, 2.76 +/- 1.00 and 2.12 +/- 0.70, respectively. We conclude the microwave irradiation in vivo is a more appropriate method for determining the cardiac ACh concentration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takechi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maruyama
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism*; D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000818:Animals; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D007700:Kinetics; D008872:Microwaves; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D000123:Acetyltransferases; D000109:Acetylcholine