title: Acetylcholine release from rat cortical slices during postnatal development and aging.
abstract: Acetylcholine release from cortical slices superfused with choline-enriched Krebs solution containing physostigmine was investigated at birth, at 7, 20 and 30 days, and at 3 and 24 months of age, in order to assess age influence on the functional efficiency of the cortical cholinergic network. The slices were electrically stimulated at frequencies from 1 to 10 Hz for 5 min periods, preceded and followed by rest periods. The superfusate was collected every 5 min and acetylcholine content quantified by bioassay. In the newborn and 7 day-old pups acetylcholine release was approximately 50% lower than that of the 3 month-old rats at all frequencies tested. The highest release was elicited in the 30 day-old rats. Beginning with this age the evoked ACh release underwent a decline which in the 24 month-old rats brought it back to the same level as in the newborn ones. The blockade of the muscarinic autoreceptors by atropine 1.5 X 10(-8) M caused an increase in acetylcholine release at 20 day, 3 and 24 months of age but not in the newborn and 7 day-old pups. Adenosine 3 X 10(-5) M decreased acetylcholine output in newborn and adult but had no effect in the senescent rats.
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism*; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001285:Atropine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D001285:Atropine; D000109:Acetylcholine