Resolved: there exists an atropinic agent in vivo.
It is suggested that there exists a competitive antagonist of the cholinergic system which is secreted during sleep, pregnancy, and acute stress. A biochemical model of the sleep cycle is presented. It is suggested that normally the putative cholinergic antagonist is metabolized rapidly upon being released from the cholinergic receptor. Defective metabolism of this putative cholinergic antagonist is hypothesized to be one cause of hypotonic schizophrenia.
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism; D001285:Atropine / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D010276:Parasympatholytics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000378:metabolism; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000378:metabolism; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000378:metabolism*
D010276:Parasympatholytics; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D001285:Atropine; D000109:Acetylcholine