Age-related recurrence of basal forebrain lesion-induced cholinergic deficits.
Lesions of basal forebrain cholinergic nuclei projecting in neocortex have recently been employed as an animal model for the cholinergic deficits in Alzheimer's disease. However, unlike Alzheimer's patients, whose deterioration appears to be progressive and irreversible, basalis lesioned rats usually recover both behaviorally and neurochemically within several months after the lesion. We now demonstrate that this recovery may be a function of the age of the rat and that cholinergic deficits re-occur in the aged rat. Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and [3H]hemicholinium-3 ([3H]HCh-3) binding are reduced in cortex ipsilateral to ibotenic acid lesions in the 12-month postlesion rat following an initial recovery to normal levels by about 3 months postlesion. The recurrence of decrease of cholinergic markers is not a consequence of a non-specific age-related decline since the activity of glutamic acid decarboxylase remains constant between 3 and 12 months postlesion.
Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.
G F
GF
Hohmann
G L
GL
Wenk
P
P
Lowenstein
M E
ME
Brown
J T
JT
Coyle
D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000172:deficiency; D002799:Cholinergic Fibers / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D006426:Hemicholinium 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D007051:Ibotenic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013377:Substantia Innominata / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
D007051:Ibotenic Acid; D006426:Hemicholinium 3; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase